London open: Stocks edge higher ahead of unemployment, earnings data

London stocks edged higher in early trade as investors eyed UK employment and earnings figures.

At 0825 BST, the FSTE 100 was up 0.2% to 7,377.71, while the pound was flat against the dollar at 1.2494.

The claimant count change, the unemployment rate and average earnings are due at 0930 BST. Bank of England Governor Mark Carney is due to give a speech in London around the same time.

It is not expected that the claimant count and unemployment rate figures will be very exciting, said Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell, with analysts forecasting -10.2k and an unchanged 4.7% respectively.

"The wage growth reading, on the other hand, is going to be far more interesting. Forecasts suggest that that the average earnings index will have slipped from 2.2% to 2.1% in the three months to February; combine that with the 2.3% inflation figure confirmed yesterday and real pay in in the UK will have fallen for the second month in a row.

"The UK jobs report does have a challenger for market dominance this Wednesday: Trump. The President is set to conduct an interview on the Fox Business Network, one that promises to cover everything from healthcare and tax reform to his actions in Syria and the increasingly fractious relationships with Russia and North Korea. All of this is catnip for investors, and may end up overshadowing the reaction to that British jobs data."

Investors were also digesting data from China's National Bureau of Statistics, which showed the consumer price index rose 0.9% in March from 0.8% the month before, below economists' expectations for a 1% increase.

On a month-on-month basis, the consumer price index was down 0.3% in March from February, when it fell 0.2%.

Meanwhile, the producer price index was up 7.6% in March compared to a 7.8% rise on the year in February.

In corporate news, Tesco fell despite reporting a 29.9% rise in adjusted group full year operating profits to £1.28bn on the back of a 4.3% increase in group sales to £49.9bn. But including the costs of the recently announced Serious Fraud Office fine and the accompanying compensation agreement, reported profits fell 39% on a constant currency basis.

FTSE 250 engineer Keller Group edged up after saying it has bought US infrastructure monitoring company GEO-Instruments, for an undisclosed sum.

Retailer WH Smith was in the red despite saying it said it grew profits 4% in the first half of the year as sales from its travel arm more than offset continued decline of the high street business.

Countryside Properties rallied after it reported a jump in first-half completions as the sales rate rose, its private forward order book reached a record level and the company sounded an upbeat note on its outlook.

Recruiter PageGroup racked up strong gains after it posted a record first-quarter gross profit.

Design, engineering and project management consultancy WS Atkins nudged higher as it reaffirmed its expectations for the year to the end of March following a solid fourth quarter in which it trade well.

BHP Billiton ticked lower after it issued a detailed response to the proposals from activist investor Elliott Advisors earlier in the week, saying that Elliott "materially overstates the potential value that could be created".

Engineer Meggitt got a boost as Bank of America Merrill Lynch upgraded the stock to 'buy' from 'neutral' saying it was a "cash improvement story" with an attractive valuation.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,377.71 0.17%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,362.61 0.29%
techMARK (TASX) 3,446.06 0.19%

FTSE 100 - Risers

GKN (GKN) 358.10p 1.47%
Old Mutual (OML) 193.70p 1.15%
Barclays (BARC) 217.45p 1.14%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 236.20p 0.72%
Pearson (PSON) 634.00p 0.71%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 199.90p 0.71%
BP (BP.) 473.85p 0.67%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,779.00p 0.62%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,985.00p 0.61%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 63.33p 0.59%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Tesco (TSCO) 194.05p -0.79%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,071.00p -0.65%
ITV (ITV) 216.40p -0.60%
National Grid (NG.) 1,025.00p -0.58%
Royal Mail (RMG) 414.70p -0.53%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 3,902.00p -0.50%
SSE (SSE) 1,494.00p -0.47%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 235.10p -0.42%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 5,370.00p -0.41%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,310.50p -0.30%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Pagegroup (PAGE) 466.10p 5.00%
Countryside Properties (CSP) 273.50p 4.47%
Fidessa Group (FDSA) 2,671.00p 2.22%
Card Factory (CARD) 302.50p 2.20%
Hays (HAS) 166.10p 2.15%
Debenhams (DEB) 54.80p 2.14%
Dunelm Group (DNLM) 635.00p 2.01%
Meggitt (MGGT) 455.10p 1.83%
Hunting (HTG) 596.50p 1.62%
SSP Group (SSPG) 438.60p 1.57%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

IP Group (IPO) 137.80p -3.09%
WH Smith (SMWH) 1,769.00p -3.07%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 797.00p -2.57%
Nostrum Oil & Gas (NOG) 459.90p -2.56%
Keller Group (KLR) 910.50p -1.41%
Sanne Group (SNN) 725.50p -1.36%
esure Group (ESUR) 245.00p -1.13%
Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 6,610.00p -0.75%
Assura (AGR) 60.55p -0.66%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 237.90p -0.63%