London midday: Equities fall ahead of US non-farm payrolls report

Oil prices declined as investors booked profits following a 20% gain over the past month. At 1141 BST Brent crude dipped 0.67% to $44.71 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate slid 0.54% to $44.08 per barrel.

The main event today, however, is the non-farm payrolls report at 1330 BST which is expected to show US employers added 200,000 jobs in April, compared to 215,000 in March. The unemployment rate is expected to remain at 5.0%.

Average hourly earnings are projected to rise 2.4% in April following a 2.3% gain the prior month.

The data from the Labor Department follows disappointing figures on US private payrolls from ADP on Wednesday.

The non-farm payrolls will be closely scrutinised by Federal Reserve policymakers as they take into consideration the health of the jobs market in determining the timing of the next interest rate hike.

"The US jobs report represents the one dominant event on the mind of every trader today, with volatility largely guaranteed regardless of the figures,” said IG market analyst Joshua Mahony.

“ADP weakness earlier in the week points towards possible disappointment, which if true would knock the chance of a June rate hike. However, with strong economic data elsewhere this week, a strong jobs report would negate the ADP figure and makes June a distinct possibility for a second Fed hike.”

In company news, shares in Glencore were lower following reports it is in talks to sell a further 9.9% stake in its agricultural unit, valued at around $625m.

Man Group edged lower after Citigroup Inc. cut its recommendation to ‘sell’ from ‘buy’.

Interserve was in the red after saying expectations for its UK construction division have taken a significant hit due to a further deterioration in its Glasgow energy from waste contract.

BBA Aviation slumped as it said trading was in line with its expectations from 1 January to the end of March with a decline in organic revenue.

Morgan Advanced Materials jumped after saying trading conditions in the first three months of the year are in line with management expectations.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,056.50 -0.99%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 16,653.21 -0.05%
techMARK (TASX) 3,026.37 -0.48%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,990.00p 3.54%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,056.00p 1.64%
Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 376.20p 1.07%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 2,927.00p 1.04%
SSE (SSE) 1,491.00p 1.02%
Merlin Entertainments (MERL) 430.40p 0.70%
Compass Group (CPG) 1,227.00p 0.41%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 1,146.00p 0.35%
British Land Company (BLND) 721.50p 0.35%
St James's Place (STJ) 857.50p 0.29%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Inmarsat (ISAT) 824.00p -4.52%
Anglo American (AAL) 631.60p -3.51%
Glencore (GLEN) 140.40p -3.47%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 491.75p -3.01%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 430.00p -2.78%
ITV (ITV) 217.60p -2.47%
Worldpay Group (WI) (WPG) 256.40p -2.10%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 427.45p -2.08%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 1,710.00p -2.01%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 1,692.50p -1.97%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Centamin (DI) (CEY) 117.90p 6.03%
Morgan Advanced Materials (MGAM) 232.60p 3.38%
Capital & Counties Properties (CAPC) 343.80p 3.21%
Cranswick (CWK) 2,368.00p 3.09%
Ophir Energy (OPHR) 67.05p 2.92%
JRP Group (JRP) 138.00p 2.83%
IP Group (IPO) 164.70p 2.74%
Cobham (COB) 161.90p 2.73%
Aldermore Group (ALD) 189.00p 2.72%
McCarthy & Stone (MCS) 223.50p 2.48%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Interserve (IRV) 312.50p -20.73%
Man Group (EMG) 130.40p -8.43%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 239.90p -6.65%
BBA Aviation (BBA) 190.40p -3.69%
Ibstock (IBST) 190.00p -3.46%
UK Commercial Property Trust (UKCM) 80.00p -3.38%
Clarkson (CKN) 2,196.00p -3.17%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 374.60p -3.08%
Amec Foster Wheeler (AMFW) 452.00p -2.40%
Virgin Money Holdings (UK) (VM.) 330.50p -2.19%