London midday: Stocks tread water ahead of US data; Melrose jumps
London stocks were still little changed by midday on Thursday as investors eyed the latest US jobless claims, but GKN owner Melrose was a high riser after well-received results.
The FTSE 100 was down just 0.1% at 7,144.36.
Oanda analyst Jeffrey Halley said US initial jobless claims will receive more attention than usual after the ADP data on Wednesday and ahead of the non-farm payrolls report on Friday.
"But most eyes are likely to be focused on US factory orders for July. In the bigger picture, though, it looks like we are in for a headline-driven 24 hours in financial markets until tomorrow’s main event in New York.
"Current expectations are for a 750,000 jobs non-farm payroll print. With the taper doves in control at the moment, a much higher number is likely to have the greatest surprise factor. That said, the street now looks locked and loaded for a good old-fashioned FOMO-buy-everything sell US dollars move if the data is soft."
The jobless claims are scheduled for release at 1330 BST.
In equity markets, ex-dividend stocks were a drag, with Admiral, BHP and Centamin among those in the frame.
Housebuilder Barratt Developments was in the red even as it reported a 65% jump in full-year profit amid “strong demand”. In the year to 30 June, pre-tax profit rose to £812.2m from £491.8m the year before, with revenues up 40.7% at £4.8bn. Meanwhile, total completions were 36.8% higher at 17,243.
Online trading platform CMC Markets tumbled after cutting its full-year earnings outlook as it highlighted subdued trading and reduced market volatility. The company now expects FY 2022 net operating income of between £250m and £280m, down from previous guidance of in excess of £330m.
On the upside, Melrose Industries rallied after saying it was trading ahead of expectations as the turnaround company reported a narrower loss for the first half of 2021. The company reported a statutory pre-tax loss of £151m for the six months to the end of June compared with a £585m loss a year earlier as revenue rose to £3.54bn from £3.39bn.
Energean advanced after it said production was outperforming guidance as the gas explorer reported its first set of results including a full contribution from the acquisition of Edison's oil and gas business.
Homeserve was boosted by an upgrade to ‘overweight’ from ‘equalweight’ at Barclays.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,144.36 -0.08%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 24,195.38 -0.23%
techMARK (TASX) 4,854.96 0.04%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Melrose Industries (MRO) 178.76p 4.00%
Evraz (EVR) 598.80p 2.25%
Prudential (PRU) 1,507.50p 1.79%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,761.50p 1.73%
Just Eat Takeaway.Com N.V. (CDI) (JET) 7,168.00p 1.60%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 2,293.00p 1.60%
Rightmove (RMV) 730.80p 1.42%
Informa (INF) 564.20p 1.40%
Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) 16,505.00p 1.29%
Ferguson (FERG) 10,675.00p 1.04%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
BHP Group (BHP) 2,091.00p -6.28%
Admiral Group (ADM) 3,472.00p -4.27%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 721.00p -2.93%
BT Group (BT.A) 164.25p -2.61%
Unilever (ULVR) 3,951.50p -2.29%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 545.60p -1.69%
M&G (MNG) 205.30p -1.49%
ITV (ITV) 114.10p -1.34%
Pearson (PSON) 760.00p -1.20%
Kingfisher (KGF) 350.70p -1.18%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Energean (ENOG) 734.00p 7.86%
Homeserve (HSV) 1,003.00p 4.70%
Indivior (INDV) 204.80p 3.33%
Helios Towers (HTWS) 179.80p 3.21%
IP Group (IPO) 142.40p 3.04%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 2,022.00p 2.02%
Biffa (BIFF) 395.00p 1.94%
Moonpig Group (MOON) 396.40p 1.90%
Games Workshop Group (GAW) 11,950.00p 1.70%
Just Eat Takeaway.Com N.V. (CDI) (JET) 7,168.00p 1.60%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
CMC Markets (CMCX) 309.00p -26.43%
Auction Technology Group (ATG) 1,452.00p -11.57%
IG Group Holdings (IGG) 868.00p -8.15%
888 Holdings (888) 400.40p -5.12%
Petropavlovsk (POG) 21.86p -3.62%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 352.30p -3.59%
Trainline (TRN) 369.40p -3.35%
Plus500 Ltd (DI) (PLUS) 1,425.50p -3.19%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 97.08p -3.16%
Pagegroup (PAGE) 615.50p -3.07%