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(Alliance News) - Stocks in London were mixed at the open on Friday ahead of the release of a key gauge of US economic health, the non-farm payrolls report, which many expect to influence the size of the Federal Reserve's next interest rate hike at its next meeting this month.
"Nervous Fed-watchers will be hoping that the non-farms number comes in somewhat below consensus to strengthen the case for a moderation of what has been a round of aggressive rate hikes so far. On the other hand, a stronger-than-expected reading, while positive for the economy, would be damaging for that case in another example of good news being bad news for investors," said interactive investor's Richard Hunter.
The US jobs report for November will be published at 1330 GMT. Consensus, as cited by FXStreet, expects nonfarm payroll employment to increase by 200,000.
The FTSE 100 index opened down 35.44 points, or 0.5%, at 7,523.05. The FTSE 250 was up 16.46 points, or 0.1%, at 19,425.88. The AIM All-Share was up 2.35 points, or 0.3%, at 852.91.
The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.5% at 751.96, the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.4% at 16,793.12, and the Cboe Small Companies was down 0.4% at 13,196.54.
The dollar was weaker ahead of the US employment data and following a downbeat reading for its manufacturing sector on Thursday.
The S&P Global US manufacturing purchasing managers' index fell to 47.7 points in November from 50.4 in October. Falling beneath the 50.0 no-change mark, it shows the sector is in contraction. The reading was largely in line with a flash estimate of 47.6, however.
In the wake of the negative PMI reading, Wall Street ended lower on Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.6%, the S&P 500 down 0.1% and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.1%.
The euro stood at USD1.0539 shortly after the European equities open on Friday morning, higher against USD1.0487 late Thursday. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JPY133.96, down sharply from JPY135.93.
The pound was quoted at USD1.2296 early Friday in London, higher than USD1.2266 at the London equities close on Thursday.
UK retail footfall suffered a sharper decline in November, figures on Friday showed, with rail strikes adding to a wall of worry for the sector, which will be hoping for a festive boost this month.
The latest British Retail Consortium-Sensormatic IQ monitor showed retail footfall slid 13% versus pre-virus levels last month, worse than the three-month average fall of just under 12%.
"Footfall took another stumble as the cost of living crisis put off some consumers from visiting the shops in November. Others opted to stay home due to the scattering of rail strikes, or chose the World Cup over shopping visits. Many big cities were particularly hard hit, with Birmingham, Bristol and Manchester all seeing the biggest drops in footfall since January," BRC Chief Executive Helen Dickinson said.
In London, Associated British Foods rose 2.9% after Goldman Sachs raised the Primark-owner to 'neutral' from 'sell', with a price target of 1,900 pence.
GSK fell 0.6% despite reporting that the European Medicines Agency has accepted a marketing authorisation application for momelotinib, its treatment for myelofibrosis, a rare blood cancer.
The pharmaceutical firm also announced positive headline results from a trial investigating Jemperli with standard-of-care chemotherapy followed by Jemperli, when compared to chemotherapy plus a placebo, in adults with primary advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer.
In the FTSE 250, AJ Bell jumped 7.5% as Jefferies raised the investment platform to 'buy' from 'hold'.
On Thursday, the company upped its annual payout once again as it reported improved profit despite lowering prices and investing in new offerings.
Asos fell 1.4% after IT infrastructure firm Softcat said it appointed Kathryn Mecklenburgh as its new chief financial officer.
Mecklenburgh is currently interim CFO at fast-fashion retailer Asos, but will join Softcat by "no later than mid-June".
Shares in Softcat were up 0.5%.
Elsewhere in London, Bank of Ireland was up 0.3% as it welcomed the approval of Ireland's minister for finance in regard to its acquisition of the assets and liabilities of KBC Bank Ireland.
The minister's approval is the final required for the acquisition.
Back in April, Bank of Ireland said it entered talks to buy KBC Group's Irish unit, as the Belgian bank looked to exit the country. In May, the bank received clearance from the Irish Competition & Consumer Protection Commission for the acquisition.
Ryanair and Wizz Air were down 1.5% and 0.7%, respectively, despite both airlines reporting they carried more passengers in November than during pre-pandemic November three years ago.
Ryanair carried 11.2 million passengers during the past month, up 9.8% from 10.2 million a year ago and up 2.8% from 10.9 million in November 2019.
Wizz Air flew 3.7 million passengers in November, up 70% from 2.2 million a year ago and 24% higher than 3.0 million in November 2019.
In Europe on Thursday morning, the CAC 40 index in Paris was down 0.4%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was down 0.1%.
Stocks in Asia closed lower on Friday after a week dominated by civil unrest and the prospect of relaxing Covid restrictions in China.
The Shanghai Composite closed down 0.3%, and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong closed down 0.3% - though the index ended the week 9.9% higher.
The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo ended down 1.6% and the S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed down 0.7%.
Cities across China further unwound Covid restrictions, loosening testing and quarantine rules in the wake of nationwide protests calling for an end to lockdowns and greater political freedoms.
As of Friday, the southwestern metropolis of Chengdu will no longer require a recent negative test result to enter public places or ride the metro, instead only requiring a green health code confirming they have not travelled to a "high risk" area.
In Beijing, health authorities called on Thursday on hospitals not to deny treatment to people without a negative PCR test taken within 48 hours.
Many other cities with virus outbreaks are allowing restaurants, shopping malls and even schools to reopen, in a clear departure from previous tough lockdown rules.
Gold was priced at USD1,802.46 an ounce early Friday, significantly higher than USD1,796.43 late Thursday. Brent oil was quoted at USD86.76 a barrel, lower against USD88.89.
EU member states are close to agreeing a USD60 dollar per barrel price cap on Russian oil, with just Poland left to give the final nod.
Europe will begin enforcing an embargo on Russian crude shipments from Monday, so the price cap will apply to oil exported by sea by Moscow to ports around the world.
By Heather Rydings; heatherrydings@alliancenews.com
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