London pre-open: Stocks to edge down after UK jobs data

London stocks were set to edge lower at the open on Thursday as investors digest the latest UK jobs data.

The FTSE 100 was called to open six points lower at 7,085.

Figures released earlier by the Office for National Statistics showed the number of vacancies in June was higher than before the pandemic, with 862,000 jobs on offer between April and June, up 77,500 compared to the three months to March 2020.

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.8% in May from 4.7% the month before.

ONS director of economic statistics Darren Morgan said: "The labour market is continuing to recover, with the number of employees on payroll up again strongly in June. However it is still over 200,000 down on pre-pandemic levels, while a large number of workers remain on furlough.

"Our first, more detailed, local figures show that since November last year, when the number of employees reached a low point nationally, the biggest growth was seen in Leicester, while the smallest was in South Hampshire.

"The number of job vacancies continued to rise very strongly. The biggest sector driving this was hospitality, followed by wholesaling and retailing.

"As the economy gradually reopened, the unemployment rate fell in March to May. This was especially marked for younger people, who had been hardest hit by earlier lockdowns."

In corporate news, UK-based cybersecurity firm Avast confirmed it was in advanced talks over a merger with NortonLifeLock.

If the deal goes through, it will be a cash-and-share offer, Avast said, but added there was no certainty a deal will be agreed.

Just Eat Takeaway.com said its losses had peaked and it expected to move back into profit after orders increased by more than half in the first six months of 2021.

Combined orders for Just Eat and Grubhub rose 51% resulting in gross transaction value of €14.1bn and annual GTV will be €28bn-€30bn, the company said.

Losses, caused mainly by fee caps in North America and investment spending, have peaked and Just Eat will "trend back to profitability" the food delivery group said.