London midday: Stocks fall ahead of non-farm payrolls

The Labor Department’s non-farm payrolls report at 1330 GMT is expected to show employers added 200,000 jobs in November, compared to 271,000 the previous month.

“It’s jobs report day in the US and with less than two weeks to go until the Fed meeting, today’s data could well be the final hurdle on the path to the first rate hike in almost a decade,” said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda.

“The Fed has repeatedly claimed its decision is data dependent and so far, the impression we’ve been given is that it’s been sufficient to warrant a hike. Last month’s jobs report was extremely strong, so much so that even a weak report this month could be deemed acceptable as long as the average of the two met the Fed’s expectations.”

Another key event on Friday is the OPEC proceedings. Oil markets have priced in no change to OPEC’s production. Speaking before the OPEC meeting, Saudi Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi said he “would listen to other members concerns” about the state of the market.

Royal Dutch Shell, BP and BG Group were sitting higher as Brent crude rose 1.2% to $44.39 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate increased 1.2% to $41.60 per barrel at 1149 GMT.

Elsewhere, there was positive news from Germany, where factory orders beat expectations in October, and Japan, where consumer confidence grew for the second consecutive month in November.

German retail activity, however, contracted in November with Markit’s purchasing managers’ index falling to 49.6 from 52.4 in October. The Eurozone retail PMI also dropped to 48.5 in November from 51.3 a month earlier. A reading below 50 signals a contraction, while a level above that indicates expansion.

In company news, property group Berkeley jumped after saying it is well-placed to meet its targets for the next three years and to meet its enhanced longer term commitment to return a further £12 per share to shareholders by 2021.

Whitbread slumped after Barclays downgraded the Premier Inn and Costa Coffee owner to ‘equalweight’ from ‘overweight’ and cut the price target to 5,200p from 5,800p.

Lloyds Banking Group climbed after the UK government has announced plans to keep selling shares in the lender to institutional investors, extending its original trading plan by up to six months.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,267.59 -0.12%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 17,350.89 -0.24%
techMARK (TASX) 3,205.20 -0.14%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,595.00p 7.25%
Sage Group (SGE) 603.50p 3.78%
Anglo American (AAL) 395.00p 2.11%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 1,654.50p 1.57%
BP (BP.) 373.65p 1.38%
BG Group (BG.) 1,046.50p 1.21%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 1,643.50p 1.17%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 796.10p 1.10%
Glencore (GLEN) 91.17p 1.05%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 197.50p 0.71%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Whitbread (WTB) 4,556.00p -3.27%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,498.00p -2.79%
Carnival (CCL) 3,415.00p -2.29%
Intu Properties (INTU) 309.40p -2.18%
Hammerson (HMSO) 594.00p -2.06%
Inmarsat (ISAT) 1,101.00p -1.96%
British Land Company (BLND) 803.50p -1.47%
Pearson (PSON) 790.50p -1.37%
Unilever (ULVR) 2,751.00p -1.26%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 2,571.00p -1.23%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Ophir Energy (OPHR) 103.30p 7.27%
Hunting (HTG) 339.60p 5.24%
Premier Oil (PMO) 68.50p 4.58%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 207.00p 3.97%
Aldermore Group (ALD) 241.60p 3.82%
Brown (N.) Group (BWNG) 366.20p 3.15%
Vectura Group (VEC) 177.10p 2.85%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 854.00p 2.71%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 1,034.00p 2.58%
Allied Minds (ALM) 441.00p 2.56%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Drax Group (DRX) 233.40p -4.50%
IP Group (IPO) 220.50p -4.13%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 1,629.00p -3.04%
Investec (INVP) 534.50p -2.91%
Keller Group (KLR) 843.00p -2.43%
Shawbrook Group (SHAW) 344.60p -2.38%
Ultra Electronics Holdings (ULE) 1,974.00p -2.37%
SEGRO (SGRO) 431.50p -2.09%
Spire Healthcare Group (SPI) 297.30p -2.04%
OneSavings Bank (OSB) 383.00p -1.85%