FTSE 100 up 14 at 7,351
US non-farms beat expectations
UK Industrial production drops more than expected in May
easyJet a high-flyer after Credit Suisse upgrade
The FTSE 100 index enjoyed a little end of day surge to rise above 7,350.
The final reading of the top-share index was 7,351, up 14 points on the day and 38 points on the week.
The mid-cap measure, the FTSE 250, finished 26 points higher at 19,395.
Low-cost airline easyJet PLC (LON:EZJ), up 5.4%, was the Footsie’s highest flyer after Credit Suisse moved to “outperform” from “neutral”.
Among the mid-caps, broker comment was also behind the FTSE 250’s best performer’s rise; Computacenter PLC (LON:CCC) was upgraded by Barclays to ‘overweight’ while Credit Suisse upped its price target for the information technology outfit to 990p from 940p.
The shares closed at 879.5p, up 41.5p on the day.
4.01pm ... US boost just about keeping the Footsie's head above water
FTSE 100 is just about hanging onto gains entering the final stretch and is around 1.3 ahead at 7,338 after the US jobs number.
US non-farm payrolls rose by 222,000 in June, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which was far better than expectations around the 1890,000 mark.
In addition, average wage growth did move higher but only 2.5% up year-on -year against consensus expectations of 2.6%.
In equities, Royal Mail Group (LON:RMG) was among the top losers, slipping 2.57% to 176.9p after it received a downgrade to 'sell' from Swiss broker UBS amid structural problems with its parcels arm. UBS reckons the group faces years of depressed earnings.
On the other side of the coin, British gas owner Centrica (LON:CNA) is among the top gainers, adding 3.42% to 208.8p
It follows a media report that suggest the group could be a takeover target. The utilities supplier has attracted the interest from a number of bidding parties, according to Zak Mir on the Wallstreetwires website.
Meanwhile, LightwaveRF plc (LON:LWRF) shares added over 6% in London to 25.25p as the home technology specialist told investors its smart home assistant has been certified to work with Apple Inc’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) home products.
Stagecoach (LON:SGC) shares shed 1.4% to 189.70p as the group was downgraded top 'hold' from 'buy' by broker Shore Capital after recent results.
Management consultant group Proactis Holdings (LON:PHD, with a market cap of £91mln, saw shares boom up 4% to 182p afer it announced the acquisition of specialist management software group Perfect Commerce.
It comes in a week that has already seen two chunky US/ UK mergers in the shape of Worldpay/Vantiv and Novae/Axis Capital.
This time it is AIM-listed Proactis that is the buyer, raising £70mln through a placing at 165p to help pay for the £102mln consideration, with a new debt facility to cover the remainder.
In oil world, Petro Matad (LON:MATD) rose almost 40% to 11.13p again after shares surged eaqrlier this week after the Mongolia-focused explorer announced it had signed up the services arm of Chinese oil giant Sinopec for a rig contract.
It is to begin the drilling programme for the group's planned Snow Leopard and Wild Horse exploration wells.
2pm- Theresa May to stay on as PM
Speaking at the G20 in Hamburg, UK Premier Theresa May said she would remain as Prime Minister for the entire two year Brexit process.
Her critics have said after a weak election showing, which reduced her majority in the Hours of Commons, she should quit.
1.40PM - FTSE 10o advanced after US jobs number beats expectations
FTSE 100 nudged higher as it emerged the US economy created 222,000 jobs in June, beating forecasts for 180,000.
It comes after yesterday, ADP private payrolls numbers, used as a gauge had underwhelmed the market.
It came in at 158,000 for the month, and economists were expecting 185,000,
The unemployment rate, however, was also a tad higher than expected at 4.4%; the consensus market forecast had been 4.3%.
Earlier, David Madden, analyst at CMC Markets UK, said: "Broadly speaking, the US economy needs to add 200,000 jobs per month to ensure the recovery keeps progressing."
FTSE 100 is up 9 at 7,346
US Non-farms at 222K vs 178E. USD falls. pic.twitter.com/UU7Wap9zWX
— Cengiz Ali (@invastali) 7 July 2017
Dennis de Jong, at UFX.com, suggested President Trump would take great encouragement from the June reading.
"There had been a loss of momentum in the US jobs market over the past few months, with poor wage growth having a knock-on effect on inflation," he said.
“The Federal Reserve will also be buoyed by these latest figures and Janet Yellen may feel that she can continue with her rapid interest rate hike strategy."
But the analyst noted that average earnings are still lagging behind, which won’t help boost inflation, and we’ve seen this week that some FOMC members are uneasy about further hikes.
"It’s touch and go whether we see rates rise again before the year is out," he added.
1.04pm - FTSE 100 still ahead
FTSE 100 was keeping its head above water at the lunchtime session, but FTSE 250, more UK company focused index was down 45 amid continued worries over the economy and Brexit.
FTSE100 is up over four points at 7,341 ahead of another potential trigger point this afternoon - the US job creation number.
Connor Campbell, analyst at Spreadex, decided to focus on the stats to explain Footsie's behaviour: "Manufacturing and industrial production unexpectedly contracted by 0.2% and 0.1% respectively, the former hurt by a slump in car production, the latter missing forecasts for a 4th consecutive month.
"The UK’s construction sector was even worse; instead of the expected 0.6% increase, output fell by 1.2%. Finally the goods trade deficit widened to £11.9 billion, taking the total trade deficit for May to £3.1 billion."
Campbell reckons there is a chance that sterling’s 'woeful' performance against the dollar, if not the euro, could improve this afternoon, dependent on the state of the US non-farm jobs report.
"The headline figure is set to rise from last month’s disappointing 138k to 175k – though it’s worth noting that analysts’ estimates have been seriously wide of the mark since the year began."
12.30 pm - Labour ahead of Tories in new poll
A new poll shows the Labour party has taken an eight point lead over the Tories.
The YouGov poll for The Times is the first opinion poll since the election, which saw Theresa May lose the majority she had.
The poll puts Labour on 46% the Tories on 38% ; the Liberal Democrats on 6% and Ukip on 4%.
12 noon
FTSE 100 crept into positive territory as noon approached, but FTSE 250 was still trailing 49 behind
The UK bluechip index is up over five points at 7,324, with British gas owner Centrica (LON:CNA) the biggest riser, up 4.51% to 210.80p on bid speculation.
The British pound is down 0.47% against the Euro and down 0.55% against the US dollar.
On the losing front, WPP (LON:WPP), the global advertising giant, is the biggest laggard, down 3.85% to 1,548p.
11.30am - Centrica is biggest FTSE 100 riser
Centrica (LON:CNA) was the biggest riser on Footsie, up over 4% to 211.20p as there was talk of it being a takeover target.
A report on the 'Wall Street Wires' website said there was talk that the company had attracted the interest of a couple of potential buyers.
11am..Trade deficit widens..
To add to the mix, the UK's trade deficit widened in May, official stats have shown.
The deficit for goods and services increased by £1.0bn to £3.1bn, according to the Office for National Statistics
The deficit in goods alone widened to £11.86bn from £10.6bn in April.
UK industrial production weaker than expected. Trade deficit widens. What a fantastic week of economic news.
— Kieran Collins (@mustwinfull) 7 July 2017
10am - FTSE 100 in red
FTSE 100 is in the red and FTSE 250 is also behind after traders were digesting more weak UK data on Friday.
Official figures today showed industrial production dropped 0.1% in May when a 0.4% rise had been expected after the 0.2% fall in April. The news sent the pound trailing 0.43% against the Euro and down 0.42% against the US dollar.
On top of all that, the market awaits non-farm payroll figures in the US and what that may say about forthcoming interest rate scenario.
"The FTSE is trading in the red once more, as a mix of a strengthening pound, weaker oil prices and a disheartening picture of the UK economy take its toll on investor sentiment," said IG Index analyst Josh Mahony.
Meanwhile, data on the housing market also dented sentiment. Persimmon (LON:PSN) was down 0.67% to 2,258p, while Taylor Wimpey (LON: TW.) shed 1.16% to 178.40p.
New data showed UK house prices continue to waver, according to data from Halifax that showed a monthly fall in June.
A notable riser was Cape plc (LON:CUI), which rose over 45% to 264p as it agreed a £332mln all cash takeover from French group Alfrad.
READ - Cape agrees £332mln French takeover
Shareholders will receive 265p per share, a 46% premium to the price at the close yesterday.
SDX Energy (LON:SDX) eased 5.54% to 44.75p, having been over 6% higher earlier. Broker Cantor Fitzgerald said the group could have the South Disouq gas discovery into production before the end of this year.
Analyst Sam Wahab repeated a ‘buy’ recommendation following the group’s updated resource estimates for the project – detailing 47 billion cubic feet (bcf) of contingent resources and 180 bcf or prospective resources.
9am - UK industrial production misses forecasts
UK industrial production has missed forecasts for the fourth month in a row.
Official figures today showed the figure dropped 0.1% in May, the ONS said, when a 0.4% rise had been expected after the 0.2% fall in April.
This was due to a 0.2% fall in manufacturing production for the second month in a row, again shy of the market consensus for a 0.5% increase.
8.49am - UK retail sales surge
British shops recorded an increase in sales during June, according to the BDO High Street Sales Tracker.
Like-for-like sales increased 1.3%, the survey said, with fashion sales advancing 1.4%, while lifestyle goods and homeware sales grew 1.2% and 0.5% respectively.
Proactive news headlines...
Collagen Solutions PLC (LON:COS) has started a study on patients who received knee cartilage implant ChondroMimetic to assess its long term performance. Acquired by Collagen in 2015, this is a follow-up clinical study to re-establish ChondroMimetic’s Europe standard CE-mark certification.
NetScientific PLC (LON:NSCI) portfolio company Glycotest has strengthened the protections around its new liver disease diagnostic with an exclusive patent in Europe. It adds to patents already issued in the US, Japan and Australia covering 50 unique glycoprotein biomarkers and related assay technology that can diagnose liver cancer.
Thor Mining PLC (LON:THR) says the second half of the year will likely be as busy as the first, with a new drill program earmarked for the Pilot Mountain tungsten project in Nevada and the potential acquisition of the remaining 75% of a US lithium explorer.
Shares in Gfinity Plc (LON:GFIN) edged higher on Friday morning after the e-sports promoter appointed one of the key players at Simon Cowell’s SYCO Entertainment as its new chief commercial officer. Mark Brittain was global head of commercial at the entertainment giant and was “instrumental” in delivering multimillion pound revenue deals and in the implementation of the X Factor tour.
Blur Group PLC (LON:BLUR) has unveiled plans to raise a much-needed £1.5mln as the e-commerce enabler looks to give its proposed new-look board the financial muscle to take it forward and “optimise the business”. blur has been in discussions with potential investors for a few weeks in a bid to shore up its balance sheet.
Highlands Natural Resources Plc (LON:HNR) has raised £2mln of fresh capital, which will be enough to fund the first well at the East Denver project. The company launched the equity subscription process, supported by the Primary Bid platform, to issue new shares priced at 12p each.
8.45am - Signs of life in the property market
Today, the Halifax house price index showed that annual house price growth fell to 2.6% but prices in the three months to June were 0.1% lower than in the preceding quarter.
eMoov founder and chief executive Russell Quirk noted on balance that it would seem reports of a market demise have "clearly been exaggerated".
"Despite the recent claims the market is due to see a notable crash with prices falling by as much as 40%, this remains very unlikely. The market is not dead or running on the life support of easily obtained credit and has suffered more of a grazed knee than a fatal injury," he said.
Read the source material HERE...
8.30am - FTSE 100 starts lower ahead of non-farm payrolls
FTSE 100 started the day lower after US stocks retreated heavily yesterday, and ahead of non-farm payroll numbers later.
The UK blue-chip bench mark is down around 13 points at 7,323 at the time of writing.
The big loser early on was postal giant Royal Mail Group (LON:RMG), which was 2.6% lower at 413.40p, while advertising giant WPP (LON:WPP), recently hit by the global cyber attack, lost 2.24% to 1,574p.
Lower down the pecking order, home decorations group Dunelm Group plc (LON:DNLM) rose 2.5% to 612p as it delivered fourth quarter revenue growth, boosted by its acquisition of Worldstores.
Revenue in the 13 weeks to July 1 came to £240.0mln, a 17.7% increase on the same period a year ago, including a £22.5mln sales contribution from Worldstores.
Elsewhere, Fenner (LON:FENR) added almost 10% to 319.50p as it told investors it expects its full-year operating profit to beat current forecasts, with trading across the engineering group remaining positive.
Markets on edge ahead of US jobs report and UK trade data – business live https://t.co/oqyfRp8Jzk
— The Guardian (@guardian) 7 July 2017
7am - FTSE 100 expected to put in dull start
The FTSE 100 index is expected to put in a dull start today after weak showings overnight on Wall Street and in Asia, with all eyes on the latest US jobs data.
Spread betting firm CMC Markets expects the UK blue chip index to open around 18 points lower at 7,319, having dropped 30 points yesterday.
Overnight in New York, the benchmark Dow Jones Industrials tumbled 158 points to end at 21,320, and Asian markets followed suit today reflecting the nervousness ahead of the key data, especially given the talk both here and in the US is about interest rate rises.
The consensus for US non-farm payrolls is for 179,000 jobs to have been added in June, with the unemployment rate tipped to remain at 4.3%, and average earnings anticipated to rise from 0.2% to 0.3% on a month-on-month basis.
David Madden, market analyst at CMC Markets UK said: “The US released some underwhelming jobs data yesterday. The ADP private employment report came in at 158,000, and economists were expecting 185,000, and the previous month’s reading was 258,000. The initial jobless claims came in at 248,000, and the consensus was for 243,000.”
He added: “The disappointing numbers have set the tone for the non-farm payroll report. Broadly speaking, the US economy needs to add 200,000 jobs per month to ensure the recovery keeps progressing.”
UK data due too
UK data released overnight showed British shops enjoyed their biggest rise in June sales in six years, helped by warm weather and weak numbers in the same month last year.
Accountancy firm BDO said its monthly High Street Sales Tracker found overall like-for-like sales rose 1.3% in June.
Official UK industrial and manufacturing production numbers as well as the latest trade figures will be released later today.
Little corporate news expected
As investors wait for the data there will be little corporate news to provide any relief, aside from a fourth quarter trading update from mid cap homewares retailer Dunelm Group PLC (LON:DNLM).
Back with an update in April, Dunelm left its full year guidance unchanged as it said it achieved sales growth in the third quarter despite a “volatile retail environment”.
READ: Dunelm reiterates full year guidance as third quarter revenue grows
But the FTSE 250-listed firm then that said the homewares market remains in decline, with its total like-for-like sales dropping 2.2% in the third quarter, reflecting a 4.2% decrease at Dunelm stores, although home delivery sales jumped by 21% like-for-like.
Significant events expected on Friday July 7:
Trading updates: Dunelm Group PLC (LON:DNLM), Fenner PLC (LON:FENR)
Economic data: US non-farm payrolls for June; UK industrial and manufacturing production, UK balance of trade
Around the markets:
- Sterling: US$1.2969, unchanged
- Gold: US$1,218.20 an ounce, down 0.3%
- Brent crude: US$44.95 a barrel, up 1.25%
City Headlines:
- HSBC to ramp up hunt for new Chief Executive – Financial Times
- Guy Hands firm Terra Firma builds €3 billion war chest - The Times
- Pressure forces Aveva to scrap ‘excessive’ pay plan – The Times
- Buffett nears $18 billion bid for Texas utility Oncor – Financial Times
- Liberty to combine QVC and HSN in $2.1 billion deal – Financial Times
- Samsung forecasts record profit on chip supercycle – Financial Times
- Qualcomm calls for iPhone ban as Apple patent case intensifies – Financial Times
- Deliveroo proposes employment laws overhaul to let it give riders benefits – Daily Telegraph
- Asset manager BlackRock shortlists cities for post-Brexit EU hub – The Independent
- Tea drinkers face rising prices after ethnic unrest in India – The Independent