London pre-open: Stocks seen muted ahead of payrolls
London stocks were set to nudge down at the open on Friday as investors eye the release of the latest US non-farm payrolls report.
The FTSE 100 was called to open five points lower at 7,275.
CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: "It looks set to be another strong week for European markets with a record high for the DAX this week, as well as a 20-month high for the FTSE100, although as we get set for today’s open, we look set for a subdued start, as we look towards today’s US non-farm payrolls report.
"Expectations are for 450k jobs to be added, a number that has been nudged higher in the last few days, however this week’s ISM surveys have given a rather mixed picture on the employment front, with manufacturing jobs pushing higher, while services jobs slipped back, although both were still over 50.
"With tapering now set in motion, today’s payrolls report should confirm that the US labour market is still improving, and with that you would also expect to see an uptick in the participation rate, as people gradually return to the workforce. Looking further out we should also expect to see hiring trends pick up heading towards Thanksgiving, as well as the Christmas holiday period, while average hourly wages could also fall back modestly as well."
In corporate news, British Airways owner IAG narrowed third-quarter losses as more people started to travel with the lifting of Covid restrictions.
The company posted an operating loss of €452m compared with a loss of €1.92bn last year when passenger travel came to a virtual standstill.
IAG added that it expects a €3bn annual operating loss before exceptional at current fuel prices and exchange rates. Fourth-quarter is expected to be approximately 60% of 2019, resulting in 2021 capacity of 37% of the 2019 level.
Morgan Advanced Materials said in a trading update that sales for the first nine months of the year were 8.9% higher on an organic constant-currency basis, compared to the same period last year.
The FTSE 250 company said its thermal products division saw sales 9.9% higher, with growth in molten metal systems and thermal ceramics, while in the carbon and technical ceramics operation sales were 8.1% higher, with growth in electrical carbon and technical ceramics offsetting a decline in seals and bearings.
With the continuation of the good performance seen so far, the board said it was expecting full-year organic constant-currency growth to be around the top end of its previous guidance range of 7% to 9%.