London midday: Stocks gain amid weaker pound; payrolls report eyed

London stocks had risen further by midday on Friday, helped along by a weaker pound, as investors eyed the release of the latest US non-farm payrolls report.

The FTSE 100 was up 0.6% at 7,293.75, with sterling down 0.4% against the dollar at 1,3442 after the Bank of England surprised markets on Thursday by leaving interest rates on hold at a record low of 0.1%, versus expectations for a hike to 0.25%.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "There were few fireworks for the FTSE 100 on Friday but the index did make steady progress amid strength in the banking sector and BT shares after the telecoms giant reinstated the dividend yesterday," says AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.

"Following the central bank led excitement of the last few days, attention will turn to US jobs figures later on. The key question being weighed by the market will be whether these numbers reinforce the US Federal Reserve’s decision to take a slow and steady approach to withdrawing support from a still fragile American economy."

The payrolls report, unemployment and average earnings are due at 1230 GMT.

On home shores, figures released earlier by Halifax showed the average UK house price topped £270,000 for the first time in October.

House prices rose 0.9% on the month following a 1.7% increase in September. On the year, prices were 8.1% higher in October, up from 7.4% growth the month before.

The average property now costs a record £270,027, with Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland continuing to outperform the UK average.

Russell Galley, managing director at Halifax, said: "One of the key drivers of activity in the housing market over the past 18 months has been the race for space, with buyers seeking larger properties, often further from urban centres. Combined with temporary measures such as the cut to Stamp Duty, this has helped push the average property price up to an all-time high of £270,027."

Earlier this week, Nationwide said that house prices hat his £250,311 in October, topping a quarter of a million pounds for the first time.

In equity markets, engine maker Rolls-Royce was the standout gainer on the FTSE 100. Other travel-related stocks were also on the rise, with IAG, InterContinental Hotels, SSP, Tui, Carnival and Wizz Air all higher. Traders said the sector got a boost after Pfizer announced that its new antiviral Covid pill cuts the risk of hospitalisation or death by 89%.

British Airways owner IAG was also in focus after after saying it narrowed third-quarter losses as more people started to travel with the lifting of Covid restrictions. The company posted an operating loss of €452m compared with a loss of €1.92bn last year when passenger travel came to a virtual standstill.

Banks were on the front foot, having fallen a day earlier after the BoE rate announcement. NatWest, Standard Chartered, Barclays and Lloyds were all up. StanChart also benefited from an upgrade to 'buy' from 'neutral' at UBS.

Telecommunications group Airtel Africa surged after saying that its subsidiary, Smartcash, has been given approval in principle to operate a payment service bank business in Nigeria.

Morgan Advanced Materials rallied after it said full-year organic constant currency growth was set to be around the top end of its previous guidance range of 7% to 9%.

Beazley rose as the insurer reported higher-than-expected gross written premiums, driven by cyber & executive risk and its specialty lines divisions as it set aside $125m in natural disasters claims, including Hurricane Ida and the European floods.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,322.59 0.59%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 23,712.78 1.03%
techMARK (TASX) 4,675.09 0.75%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 141.12p 4.47%
Informa (INF) 539.60p 3.97%
ITV (ITV) 111.45p 2.86%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 165.15p 2.83%
Compass Group (CPG) 1,593.50p 2.67%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 5,346.00p 2.53%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 457.80p 2.32%
NATWEST GROUP PLC ORD 100P (NWG) 216.70p 2.07%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 636.00p 2.05%
Aviva (AV.) 405.20p 2.04%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Darktrace (DARK) 586.50p -2.09%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 2,555.00p -1.08%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,726.00p -1.00%
Evraz (EVR) 601.60p -0.89%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 6,316.00p -0.85%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 5,082.00p -0.78%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,414.00p -0.74%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 1,555.00p -0.64%
CRH (CDI) (CRH) 3,645.00p -0.57%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 4,413.00p -0.51%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Airtel Africa (AAF) 122.00p 11.93%
Morgan Advanced Materials (MGAM) 362.50p 7.57%
Trainline (TRN) 323.00p 6.53%
SSP Group (SSPG) 271.70p 6.51%
Beazley (BEZ) 419.60p 5.96%
CMC Markets (CMCX) 273.00p 5.41%
Carnival (CCL) 1,628.40p 5.06%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 245.70p 4.46%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 4,883.00p 3.45%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 330.50p 3.41%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 212.00p -2.75%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 147.90p -1.92%
Diversified Energy Company (DEC) 104.40p -1.51%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 1,766.50p -1.42%
Draper Esprit (GROW) 1,028.00p -1.34%
Drax Group (DRX) 554.00p -1.16%
Tritax Eurobox (GBP) (EBOX) 113.40p -1.05%
3i Infrastructure (3IN) 331.50p -1.04%
UK Commercial Property Reit Limited (UKCM) 76.20p -1.04%
TBC Bank Group (TBCG) 1,574.00p -1.01%