London pre-open: Stocks set for higher start ahead of US jobs report
Stocks are seen starting the session slightly higher ahead of the release of the all-important monthly jobs report.
Centrica
131.70p
17:08 19/04/24
Financial Services
14,075.11
17:09 19/04/24
FTSE 100
7,895.85
16:59 19/04/24
FTSE 250
19,391.30
17:09 19/04/24
FTSE 350
4,341.08
17:09 19/04/24
FTSE All-Share
4,296.41
17:08 19/04/24
Gas, Water & Multiutilities
5,942.59
17:10 19/04/24
Health Care Equipment & Services
11,690.05
17:09 19/04/24
Smith & Nephew
961.80p
16:45 19/04/24
TP Icap Group
207.50p
17:10 19/04/24
The Footsie was being called to start the session up by 14 points to 7,568.90, under half a percentage away from its record highs.
At 1230 GMT, the US Department of Commerce was expected to publish data showing a bumper 310,000 person jump in non-farm payrolls for October, following an unexpected drop of 33,000 in September, as the effects of hurricanes Harvey and Irma unwind and reconstruction efforts are stepped up on the Gulf Coast.
Ahead of that, at 0930 GMT IHS Markit will release its services sector purchasing managers' index for last month, with consensus forecasting a print of 53.4, down from the 53.6 recorded in September.
Acting as a backdrop, overnight Republicans in the US House of Representatives presented their proposed tax reforms, which include a permanent reduction in the corporate tax rate from 30% at present to 20%, albeit alongside a cap on homeowners' interest rate deductions on mortgages.
Any fiscal stimulus would arrive amid economic growth (pending revisions) in the States of around 3%, despite which long-term Treasury debt in fact moved higher following the release of the House proposals.
No less important, after the market close in New York, US president Donald Trump elected current governor Jerome Powell to head the Federal Reserve starting from March 2018.
Pending confirmation of his appointment by the Senate, Powell was considered by many observers to be the "continuist option", although some analysts said he had a "softer" approach when it came to financial sector regulation than his predecessor, Janet Yellen.
Commenting on the prospects for those US jobs figures, Craig Erlam senior market analyst at Oanda, said: "As has been the case for quite a while now, the job creation and unemployment figures will likely draw the immediate attention of traders and could even trigger the early moves in markets, but it’s the wages that will likely have a larger influence on Fed policy."
To take note of too, traders bid Apple stock 3.13% higher in after-hours trading following the smartphone maker's latest quarterly update.
Centrica in cross-Channel foray
Centrica said it has bought European demand response aggregator REstore, for €70m (£62m) in cash. Headquartered in Antwerp, Belgium, REstore manages 1.7GW of peak load from a portfolio of industrial and commercial customers across Belgium, the UK, France and Germany.
Smith & Nephew said its full year profits to be at the lower end of its guided range after a third quarter where growth was flat outside US and emerging markets but its artificial hips business returned to growth. Revenue grew 3% to $1.15bn in the three months to 30 September, leading management to expect underlying revenue growth for the full year to be at the lower end of the 3-4% guided range, with profit margins to be at the lower end of the guided 20-70 basis points range.
TP ICAP updated the market on its trading for the third quarter on Friday, reporting revenue in the three months to 30 September of £420m - up 3% on the pro forma revenue at the same time last year, or 2% at constant currency. The FTSE 250 company said year-to-date revenue was ahead 9% on last year at the end of the third quarter, at £1.345bn, or 3% at constant exchange rates.