London open: FTSE edges up after jobs data, ahead of BoE announcement
London stocks edged up in early trade on Thursday ahead of the latest Bank of England policy announcement, as data showed the unemployment rate remained steady in January while wage growth slowed slightly but remained "relatively strong".
At 0830 GMT, the FTSE 100 was up 0.2% at 8,720.49.
The BoE decision is due at midday, with no change to rates expected.
Before that, data from the Office for National Statistics showed the unemployment rate came in at 4.4% in January, unchanged from December.
Regular pay excluding bonuses rose 5.9% in the three months to January, the same as a month earlier and remaining at the highest level since the three months to April last year.
Meanwhile, total pay including bonuses was up 5.8%, down from 6.1% a month earlier and versus expectations for a smaller decline to 5.9%
ONS director of economic statistics Liz McKeown said: "Overall pay growth remains relatively strong, with pay growth high in both the public and private sectors, despite the latter slowing slightly in the latest period.
"The wider labour market picture is relatively unchanged, with the number of employees on payroll broadly flat in the latest period and with little growth seen over much of the last year.
"Unemployment, as measured by the Labour Force Survey, and the Claimant Count have both increased slightly in the latest periods, though caution continues to be advised with the survey estimates.
"Initial estimates show that the number of vacancies is little changed on the previous quarter, remaining just above pre-pandemic levels."
Ruth Gregory, deputy chief UK economist at Capital Economics, said: "With the labour market cooling rather than collapsing and wage growth stuck in the 5.5-6.0% range, we doubt the Bank of England will cut interest rates from 4.50% today.
"The next cut will probably be in May and, ultimately, we think rates will be cut further than most expect."
In equity markets, Prudential jumped to the top of the FTSE 100 as it hiked its dividend by 13% and accelerated its share buyback plan after profits rose by a tenth in 2024, with financial results in line with group guidance.
The insurance and asset management company returned $785m to shareholders in 2024, as part of its $2bn repurchase plan that will now complete by the end of 2025, ahead of the original mid-2026 schedule.
The firm reported an adjusted operating profit before tax of $3.13bn for 2024, up 10% on a constant currency basis.
Shaftesbury Capital surged after saying it has sold a 25% stake in its Covent Garden portfolio to Norwegian sovereign wealth fund Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) for £570m.
The deal values the Covent Garden estate, which covers some 220 buildings across 1.4m square feet, at £2.7bn, in line with an independent property valuation at the end of last year.
Bloomsbury Publishing rallied as it said full-year trading was ahead of expectations after a strong performance in the second half.
Crest Nicholson rose as the housebuilder said it had seen an encouraging start to the year and remained on track to deliver results in line with guidance in the current financial year.
Food company Cranswick also advanced as it upgraded medium-term targets and said the current year outlook was unchanged, with robust demand for its core pork and poultry products continuing throughout the fourth quarter.
On the downside, 3i Group slid after an update on non-food discounter Action, its largest portfolio company.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX)8,720.490.16%
FTSE 250 (MCX)20,185.580.31%
techMARK (TASX)4,793.830.55%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Prudential (PRU)790.00p2.04%
F&C Investment Trust (FCIT)1,122.00p1.63%
Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH)3,750.00p1.63%
Persimmon (PSN)1,220.50p1.62%
Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR)18,645.00p1.58%
Antofagasta (ANTO)1,962.50p1.32%
BP (BP.)448.15p1.31%
Kingfisher (KGF)272.80p1.30%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.)117.05p1.25%
Barratt Redrow (BTRW)436.10p1.23%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
3i Group (III)3,550.00p-6.95%
Compass Group (CPG)2,405.00p-3.80%
Pearson (PSON)1,234.50p-2.80%
Beazley (BEZ)875.50p-2.51%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK)2,046.00p-1.63%
M&G (MNG)222.00p-1.60%
Auto Trader Group (AUTO)748.00p-0.69%
Phoenix Group Holdings (PHNX)578.50p-0.60%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA)891.90p-0.45%
Rio Tinto (RIO)4,894.00p-0.25%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Shaftesbury Capital (SHC)133.80p13.49%
Bloomsbury Publishing (BMY)640.00p10.34%
Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST)165.10p8.48%
Oxford Instruments (OXIG)1,994.00p4.73%
4Imprint Group (FOUR)4,100.00p4.59%
Dr. Martens (DOCS)56.60p4.52%
Trainline (TRN)287.40p4.51%
Morgan Advanced Materials (MGAM)220.00p3.53%
Diversified Energy Company (DEC)1,031.00p3.51%
Hilton Food Group (HFG)860.00p3.49%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
SSP Group (SSPG)152.90p-4.26%
Investec (INVP)494.80p-4.20%
Energean (ENOG)817.50p-2.74%
RIT Capital Partners (RCP)1,870.00p-2.40%
Pagegroup (PAGE)330.80p-2.36%
Allianz Technology Trust (ATT)370.00p-2.12%
Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS)284.00p-1.56%
Impax Environmental Markets (IEM)361.00p-1.23%
Grafton Group Ut (CDI) (GFTU)872.80p-1.12%
Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG)446.40p-1.06%