London open: Stocks edge up ahead of non-farm payrolls

London stocks rose in early trade on Friday after the US Senate approved a deal to raise the debt ceiling, but gains were unspectacular as investors eyed the release of the latest US non-farm payrolls report.

At 0825 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 0.3% at 7,097.63.

Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said: "Investors took heart from a legislative breakthrough before turning attention to the non-farm payroll numbers due later.

"After some limited fears around a potential US default, the Senate approved a temporary lift to the $28.4 trillion debt limit which should stave off such concerns for the time being.

"In terms of economic data, today marks the culmination of the week, as the jobs figure is announced. After a much weaker than expected reading of 235,000 for August (which is likely to be revised higher today), the consensus is that 500,000 jobs will have been added in September. While there is no official number available, it is believed that such a reading would trigger the tapering of Federal Reserve stimulus, and would be announced at the November meeting.

"By the same token, and perhaps less likely, another miss on the consensus figure would further heighten inflationary concerns, and the possibility of the emergence of stagflation in particular."

In equity markets, Royal Mail gained after saying it had bought Canadian logistics company Mid-Nite Sun Transportation for CAD$360m (£210.5m).

Electronic parts distributor Electrocomponents was also in the black as it lifted annual guidance after reporting interim trading ahead of expectations, but said supply chain issues would persist.

Elsewhere, Tullow Oil was boosted by an upgrade to ‘buy’ at Jefferies.

On the downside, Weir slumped after the engineer warned late on Thursday that profit was set to take a hit of up to £40m following a cyberattack.

Unite Group was also weaker after the student accommodation provider said 2022 rental income was expected to fall due to lower rental income in terms two and three of 2021/2022.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,097.63 0.28%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 22,609.76 0.22%
techMARK (TASX) 4,552.86 0.05%

FTSE 100 - Risers

International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 181.22p 2.49%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 1,705.80p 1.55%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 143.36p 1.52%
BHP Group (BHP) 1,927.00p 1.39%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 1,695.00p 1.35%
BP (BP.) 349.10p 1.25%
Informa (INF) 576.00p 1.19%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 4,288.00p 1.16%
Experian (EXPN) 3,148.00p 1.06%
Whitbread (WTB) 3,246.00p 0.96%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 2,715.00p -1.81%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,313.00p -1.15%
3i Group (III) 1,257.50p -0.67%
Aveva Group (AVV) 3,573.00p -0.61%
NATWEST GROUP PLC ORD 100P (NWG) 223.90p -0.49%
Entain (ENT) 2,125.00p -0.42%
Glencore (GLEN) 357.25p -0.32%
Tesco (TSCO) 272.40p -0.27%
BT Group (BT.A) 145.85p -0.27%
Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 585.80p -0.24%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Airtel Africa (AAF) 98.50p 5.63%
Dr. Martens (DOCS) 390.60p 4.83%
Network International Holdings (NETW) 344.40p 4.74%
AJ Bell (AJB) 390.40p 2.79%
Harbour Energy (HBR) 362.60p 2.66%
Hilton Food Group (HFG) 1,188.00p 2.59%
Vesuvius (VSVS) 488.20p 2.43%
Murray Income Trust (MUT) 893.00p 2.41%
Synthomer (SYNT) 472.40p 2.38%
Rathbone Brothers (RAT) 1,918.00p 2.35%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Weir Group (WEIR) 1,548.50p -6.01%
Unite Group (UTG) 1,062.00p -3.76%
Spire Healthcare Group (SPI) 210.00p -2.33%
Reach (RCH) 347.00p -1.84%
Coats Group (COA) 65.20p -1.36%
888 Holdings (888) 399.00p -1.19%
TR Property Inv Trust (TRY) 457.00p -1.08%
Tritax Eurobox (GBP) (EBOX) 107.00p -0.93%
Morgan Sindall Group (MGNS) 2,290.00p -0.87%
Derwent London (DLN) 3,338.00p -0.80%