London pre-open: Stocks to fall as investors mull jobs data
London stocks were set to fall at the open on Tuesday as investors mull the latest UK jobs data and continue to keep an eye on the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
The FTSE 100 was called to open 50 points lower at 7,143.
CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: "As we look ahead to today’s European open, sentiment is likely to remain increasingly fragile for the very reason that it reflects optimism over progress on ceasefire talks between Russia and Ukraine, as well as sharp falls in oil and gas prices, and which has seen US oil prices fall below $100 a barrel
"Both of these factors seem completely at odds to what is being played out on the ground inside Ukraine and a backdrop of Russian forces which continue to pound Ukrainian cities, with little regard for safeguarding the civilian population. Nonetheless markets in Europe look set to open lower this morning hindered by sharp declines in Chinese markets."
On the macro front, figures released earlier by the Office for National Statistics showed that in the three months to January, the unemployment rate fell below pre-pandemic levels despite the Omicron variant.
The unemployment rate declined to 3.9% from 3.1% in the final quarter of 2021, hitting its lowest level since the three months to January 2020.
However, the data also showed that the pay squeeze on workers intensified, with regular pay declining by 1% and marking the largest fall since 2014.
In corporate news, automotive fluid systems manufacturer TI Fluid Systems said that full-year revenues and operating profits had improved year-on-year in 2021 as it managed to successfully navigate yet another "volatile year".
TI Fluid Systems said full-year revenues were up 5.6% at constant currency rates to €2.95bn, which, when coupled with a more than percentage point improvement in its margin from -6.3% to 4.3%, helped raise adjusted underlying earnings from a reported loss of €176.3m to a profit of €126.8m.
Plumbing and heating products supplier Ferguson said it was doubling its share buyback to $2bn after interim profits rose by two-thirds.
The company reported adjusted core profits of $1.46bn, up 59.8%, as net sales rose 29.1% to $13.1bn for the six months to January 31. The interim dividend was lifted by 15% to 84 cents a share.