As the clock ticked down to the release of US jobs data for April, London's blue-chips were down in the dumps.
The FTSE 100 was off 48 points at 6,069, with miners and banks largely responsible for dragging the Footsie down.
In contrast, small caps, as measured by the FTSE Aim 100 index, were holding their own, with the index up six points at 3,377.
Health-focused wearable technology developer Fitbug Holdings PLC (LON:FITB) was the top performer, up 65% at 0.70p, with more than 13mln shares changing hands, though on what information the buyers were trading was a mystery.
BMR Group PLC (LON:BMR), the Zambian-focused mineral processing business, climbed 9% after it received confirmation from the Zambia Environmental Management Agency that its Environmental Social Impact Assessment in respect of its tailings pretreatment process and the construction of its planned pilot and main treatment plants in Kane had been approved.
Guy Elliott, non-executive chairman of top level domains name owner Minds + Machines Group Limited (LON:MMX) has acquired 100,000 shares in the internet firm at 8.5p a throw, prompting a halfpenny rise to 9p.
Elliott is now interested in 22.6mln MMX shares, representing 3% of the company's issued share capital.
Elsewhere in the technology sector, cloud-based video editing platform developer Forbidden Technologies plc (LON:FBT) has a new non-executive chairman, David Main, allowing company founder and director of Research & Development, Stephen Streater, to focus on his core area of interest, which is the technology.
The shares, strong performers this week, fell 17% to 10.25p as the new chairman revealed it is close to securing a fund-raising package that will see shares issued at a substantial discount to last night's closing price.
Open
UK listed small caps were outpacing bigger stocks early doors on Friday as traders and markets are jittery ahead of the key jobs report from the US later this afternoon.
FTSE100 is at 6,096 at the time of writing, down over 21 points, while FTSE AIM 100 stands 0.22% higher at 3,378, while FTSE AIM All share is 0.14% higher at 723.390.
In China, the Shanghai Composite index closed 2.82% lower at 2,913.
The big faller on the UK's premier 100 share index is satellite specialist Inmarsat (LON:ISAT), which dropped over 6.7% to stand at 805p a share after posting results yesterday.
On Thursday, the group cut its full year revenue guidance to a range of between $1.175bn and $1.250bn as the recession in global maritime and energy markets continues.
Meanwhile, the biggest small cap winner in London was China- focused Greka Engineering (LON:GEL), which gained 12% in morning trade to stand at 0.70p despite a reported slowdown in China growth.
Forbidden Technologies plc (LON:FBT) was up again, up over 11% at 13.75p as the stock continues to make ground this week after Wednesday announcing that it had kicked off a 12-month proof of concept study for its video-editing tool Forscene with a major UK broadcaster.
Described by its chief executive as potentially its most significant deal yet, Forbidden is collaborating with an unnamed US editing software specialist on the study.
The biggest London laggard was Ncondezi Energy (LON:NCCL), which shed over 33% to 4p each as it updated on the 300MW power plant project near Tete in northern Mozambique and gave a corporate update.
The monthly non-farm US jobs report is always closely watched around the world for signs of how the US powerhouse economy is doing and also to give a clue as to how it may affect the Fed's stance on raising interest rates.
Michael Hewson, at CMC Markets, is not optimistic on the affect on European markets: "European markets look set to finish lower for the second week in succession as concerns about a weakening growth outlook and the efficacy of central bank policy in combating it, start to weigh on sentiment."
"The recent weakness in the US dollar along with a rise in oil prices, which has been one of the primary drivers of the recent rebound in equity markets, appear to be showing some signs of tiredness..."
Economists surveyed by web site MarketWatch predicted a strong 203,000 gain in nonfarm jobs last month but that comes after payroll firm ADP stats earlier in the weak, which showed a disappointing 156,000 new jobs created in April, so it's a watching game.
Strategic Minerals PLC (LON:SML) continued the good run, adding 6.29% to 0.372p as the firm completed planning for the maiden drilling programme at the Hanns Camp nickel/copper project.
The permit of work has been granted by the Western Australia Department of Mines and Petroleum, paving the way for the start of drilling, which remains on track for mid to late May.
Strategic has a 50% interest in Hanns Camp through its stake in Central Australia Rare Earths, which holds the licence for the Laverton area in which Hanns Camp is located.
Opening snapshot
The FTSE 100 fell 38p or around 0.6% on open this morning to 6080p.
The top winner is Randgold Resources Ltd, up 35p around 0.6% to 5820p. It has recorded a 42% increase in its share price since the start of the yea.
Inmarsat was down just under 3% around 23p to 840p, continuing from yesterday, having fallen 7%, as shareholders fear a damaging macroeconomic picture.
Intercontinental Hotels results show a 1.5% rise in first quarter global room revenue, boosting its confidence for the rest of the year.
Elsewhere, the high street finds April the cruellest month since the recession, as fashion retailers lead big slumps in sales.
Preview at 6.55am
The FTSE 100 looks set to enter a holding pattern ahead of US jobs figures later Friday.
The spread betters are predicting the index of blue-chip shares will fall 2 points on opening to 6,115.25.
Wall Street closed flat overnight, while the main Asian markets were in negative territory.
The fall in the value of the yen hit exporters on the Nikkei 225, which was down 0.3%, while the Shanghai and Hang Seng indexes fell 1.8% and 1.3 respectively.
The Chinese equity markets were driven lower by a slump in commodity prices.
In the UK, the big scheduled news of the day comes from Intercontinental Hotels, which posts its full year results.
As mentioned at the top of the story, the big market making news is expected to come from the US where the world’s largest economy is expected to have added around 200,000 to its workforce.
“There does appear to be an undercurrent of concern that suggests we could see a miss to the downside,” said Michael Hewson at CMC Markets.
“It is important to note that despite the markets fixation on the jobs numbers, which have been consistently positive for the last eighteen months, that the primary focus has shifted away from the jobs data and more towards the second pillar of the Fed’s mandate which is prices.”
*Brent crude is trading 17 cents lower at US$44.84.
*Gold is up US$8.20 at US$1,280.50.
Headlines
*Rumours and gossip: The Excalibur Steel management buyout has emerged as the front runner to rescue Tata Steel UK, although concerns about funding and pensions could still derail the bid.
*Sir Philip Green has reacted furiously to suggestions that his knighthood could be at risk over the BHS pension gap and has called for the resignation of the head of a Parliamentary inquiry into the collapse of the high street retailer – FT.
*Amazon has signed a new leasing deal for cargo jets, doubling the size of its fleet and underscoring its ambitions to grow its air transport network – FT.
*Pension fund shortfalls at Britain’s biggest listed companies have worsened for the third month running, adding to the general anxiety triggered by the travails of Tata Steel and BHS – Times.