London pre-open: Stocks seen lower as investors mull jobs data

London stocks were set to fall at the open on Tuesday following strong gains at the start of the week, as investors mulled the latest UK jobs data.

The FTSE 100 was called to open down around 46 points.

Figures released earlier by the Office for National Statistics showed that pay growth cooled while the unemployment rate fell.

The unemployment rate declined to 4.1% in the three months to July from 4.2% in the previous three months, in line with economists’ expectations.

Meanwhile, growth in average earnings fell to 5.1%, marking the lowest level since the quarter to July 2022.

Ashley Webb, UK economist at Capital Economics, said: "Overall, while the continued easing in wage growth will be pleasing to the Bank, we doubt today’s release will move the needle too much for September’s policy meeting. We still think the Bank will pause in September before implementing another 25bps rate cut in November."

In corporate news, gold miner Centamin said it had agreed to be taken over by AngloGold Ashanti in a £1.9bn deal.

Under the terms of the transaction, Centamin shareholders will receive 0.06983 new AngloGold Ashanti shares and $0.125 in cash.

The price represents a premium of around 36.7% to the closing share price on Monday.

Abrdn said it has appointed its former finance head Jason Windsor as its new official chief executive, after he emerged as the "unanimous choice" to lead the investment company following the exit of Stephen Bird in May.

Windsor has been serving as interim CEO over the past five months since the firm announced a strategic repositioning to a specialist asset manager and digitally focused wealth manager, which resulted in its former CEO stepping down after four years.

"I am honoured to have been chosen to lead Abrdn," Windsor said. "I see significant headroom in each of our three core businesses, with the potential to generate a step-change in performance for our clients and customers, and for our shareholders."

Schroders announced the appointment of Richard Oldfield as group chief executive, effective 8 November, replacing Peter Harrison.

The FTSE 100 company said Oldfield previously spent 30 years at PwC before joining Schroders as its chief financial officer.

Since joining the firm, it said he had made an impact on capital management and introduced new initiatives like the company's first bond issue.