The FTSE 100 was broadly flat this morning as traders were cautious ahead of today’s key non-farm payrolls data from the US Department of Labor. Traders are expecting to see a 150,000 gain. Earlier this week, the ADP jobs report showed that the private sector added 38,000 jobs last month.
Infrastructure company Autonomy Corporation (LON:AU) led the blue chips today, climbing 2.6 percent to 1,800 pence after completion the acquisition of certain assets of Iron Mountain's (NYSE:IRM) digital division including archiving, eDiscovery and online backup.
Autonomy expects to announce its Q2 results in late July. Bloomberg analyst consensus estimates for the quarter were revenues of US$247 million with earnings per share of 0.31 cents. Cost synergies as a result of the acquisition have been projected at US$40 million per year.
Insurance sector focused investor Resolution (LON:RSL) followed, rising 1.3 percent to 303 pence, boosted by a positive note from Investec (LON:INVP).
Johnson Matthey (LON:JMAT) added 1.4 percent, rising to 2,041 pence after both JP Morgan and Deutsche Bank upped their target prices for the specialty chemicals firm from 2,200 to 2,225 pence and from 2,250 to 2365 pence respectively.
Yesterday’s top riser, government services group Serco (LON:SRP), was the heaviest faller today, falling 1.8 percent to 586 pence on profit taking following yesterday’s 4.5 percent rally.
A lower open is expected on Wall Street today. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) fell 39 points (0.3 percent). The broader S&P 500 index declined 5 points (0.4 percent) and the technology heavy NASDAQ composite dropped 11 points (0.45 percent).
Shares in Carnival Corp (NYSE:CCL) and ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) fell 1 percent in pre-market.
Other US data due to be released today includes the Institute for Supply Management’s (ISM) services index.
In Asia, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index declined 63 points (0.65 percent) to 9,492 and China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 23 points (0.85 percent) to 2,728.