London pre-open: Stocks seen lower ahead of nonfarm payrolls

Stocks in London were set to open in the red on Friday ahead of the latest nonfarm payrolls release and as the US election continues to weigh on investors’ minds.

The FTSE 100 was called to open 25 points lower than Thursday’s close at 6,765.

There are no major UK data releases due but in the US, the nonfarm payrolls report and unemployment rate are at 1230 GMT, along with the trade balance.

CMC Markets’ Michael Hewson said the payrolls report is expected to show an improvement of 175,000 from September’s 156,000.

“There is a concern that this estimate may well be on the high side given the weak employment component of yesterday’s ISM non-manufacturing survey, which saw a sharp fall from 57.2 to 53.1, while the headline number also showed a similar drop from the September numbers.

“The unemployment rate is expected to come down to 4.9% from 5%, while average hourly earnings are expected to remain unchanged at 2.6%. One of the Fed’s main concerns is stagnant wage growth at a time when inflation is starting to show signs of picking up, and while we do appear to be starting to see signs of rising prices, wages don’t appear to be showing signs of following suit.”

In corporate news, Paddy Power Betfair posted a trading update for the three months to 30 September on Friday, with revenue up 25% to £404m, or up 15% in constant currencies.

The FTSE 100 bookmaker said that growth was driven by sports, including a strong conclusion to the Euro 2016 tournament, with sportsbook stakes up 26%, or 14% at constant currency.

Underlying EBITDA rose 53% to £113m and underlying operating profit was up 68% to £95m, with the company’s underlying EBITDA margin increasing from 23% to 28%.

Vodafone announced on Friday that its Dutch company has agreed to sell its consumer fixed business to T-Mobile Netherlands Holding for an undisclosed fee, in order to settle a condition by the European Commission for a proposed merger in the country.

Vodafone Libertel BV is to sell Vodafone Thuis as a part of the deal with the European Commission so the company and Liberty Global, a US telecommunications company, can go ahead with the proposed merger of Vodafone Netherlands and Ziggo, a cable operator, to form a joint venture.

Budget airline EasyJet said passenger numbers rose last month, but the load factor dropped.

Passenger numbers were up 6.9% from last October to just over 6.84m, but the load factor – which gauges how full the planes are – fell to 90.2% from 93.3%.

On a rolling 12-month basis, passenger numbers were up 6.3% to 73.58m, while the load factor dipped to 91.3% from 91.7%.