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(Alliance News) - Stocks in London were called higher on Friday, as investors await the latest US jobs report, the main event at the conclusion of a busy week of data and monetary policy decisions.
The US nonfarm payrolls report is at 1330 BST.
"Having just come off the back of another 25 basis points rate hike from the Federal Reserve last week, and what may well be the final rate hike of this cycle, today's US payrolls data is likely to continue to showcase the resilience of the US economy," CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson commented.
The US economy is expected to have added 200,000 jobs last month, according to FXStreet cited consensus, slowing slightly from June's 209,000.
In early UK corporate news, advertising agency WPP cut guidance as its US tech clients have reined in spending. Morgan Advanced Materials maintained annual guidance.
Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: called up 0.2% at 7,543.6
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Hang Seng: up 0.6% at 19,529.13
Nikkei 225: up 0.1% at 32,192.75
S&P/ASX 200: up 0.2% at 7,325.40
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DJIA: closed down 66.63 points, or 0.2%, at 35,215.89
S&P 500: closed down 11.50 points, 0.3%, at 4,501.89
Nasdaq Composite: closed down 13.73 points, 0.1%, at 13,959.72
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EUR: up at USD1.0958 (USD1.0951)
GBP: up at USD1.2732 (USD1.2719)
USD: up at JPY142.42 (JPY142.22)
Gold: largely flat at USD1,937.29 per ounce (USD1,937.55)
(Brent): up at USD85.28 a barrel (USD84.90)
(changes since previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS
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Friday's key economic events still to come:
11:00 CEST EU retail trade
11:00 IST Ireland labour market
09:30 BST UK construction PMI
12:00 BST UK BoE market participants survey results
08:30 EDT US employment report
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A full year of growth has been recorded by the UK's new car market, an industry body said. Registrations of new cars were up by more than a quarter in July compared with the same month last year, according to preliminary figures issued by the Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders. That represented the 12th consecutive monthly year-on-year increase, as global supply shortages continue to ease. New battery electric vehicles took a 16% market share in July. The SMMT anticipates the figure will rise to nearly 23% across the whole of next year. Earlier this week, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak stated the ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030 remains government policy.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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Jefferies raises John Wood Group to 'buy' (hold) - price target 210 (237) pence
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Jefferies raises TI Fluid to 'buy' (hold) - price target 150 (125) pence
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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WPP reported that revenue in the first half of 2023 rose by 6.9% to GBP7.22 billion from GBP6.76 billion a year earlier. Pretax profit, however, slumped 51% to GBP204.3 million from GBP418.6 million. WPP declared a 15.0p per share interim dividend, unchanged year-on-year. Looking ahead, WPP lowered 2023 like-for-like revenue-less pass-through costs growth guidance to a 1.5% to 3.0% range from 3% to 5%. Chief Executive Mark Read said: "Our performance in the first half has been resilient with Q2 growth accelerating in all regions except the US, which was impacted in the second quarter by lower spending from technology clients and some delays in technology-related projects. This was felt primarily in our integrated creative agencies. China returned to growth in the second quarter albeit more slowly than expected."
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Safety equipment manufacturer Halma said it has bought Lazer Safe. Headquartered in Perth, Australia, Lazer Safe designs and manufactures safety solutions for industrial press brake applications. Its laser technology is designed to protect workers when operating machinery used to fabricate sheet metal, Halma said. The company will pay AUD45 million, about GBP23 million, for Lazer. Lazer will be a standalone company within Halma's Safety sector. "Lazer Safe further strengthens Halma's position in industrial safety where long-term growth is driven by increasing regulation and the need for greater efficiency and employee safety. Lazer Safe is highly aligned to our purpose of protecting people and their environment to grow a safer, cleaner and healthier future for everyone, every day," said CEO Marc Ronchetti.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Morgan Advanced Materials said revenue in the first half of 2023 rose by 4.5% to GBP553.9 million from GBP530.2 million a year ago. The Windsor, England-based carbon and ceramic metals manufacturer reported that pretax profit fell by 37% to GBP28.4 million from GBP65.7 million. Morgan Advanced announced that it will pay shareholders an interim dividend of 5.3p, unchanged year-on-year. Looking ahead, it kept its full-year guidance unchanged. It expects revenue growth of 2% to 4%, with adjusted operating profit recovering in the second half.
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Telecom Plus, the parent company of multi-service provider Utility Warehouse, said that "strong" trading reported in recent annual results is continuing. Ahead of its annual general meeting on Friday, it noted that energy price volatility has reduced over recent months. Looking ahead, it expects to deliver comfortable double-digit annual percentage customer growth for the current year, leading to a broadly corresponding increase in adjusted pretax profit. Chair Charles Wigoder said: "We remain focussed on our medium-term target of welcoming an additional million customers to UW, underpinned by our market-leading offerings across energy, broadband, mobile and insurance, and the competitive advantage that our unique multiservice customer proposition gives us."
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OTHER COMPANIES
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Home REIT said it has sold 40 properties, representing 1.6% of its portfolio by number, for GBP4.8 million. It said that the sold properties were identified as having limited prospects for income and capital return given the required capital expenditure in order to be brought up to specification. The proceeds from the properties represented an average of 39.4% of their purchase price, reflecting the vacant status of the majority of the properties and their condition. Sale proceeds will be used to reduce borrowings and provide working capital, the company added.
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Apple late Thursday posted a largely positive third quarter performance, with profit ticking up despite falling revenue, while it raised its quarterly dividend. In the three months that ended July 1, the Cupertino, California-based technology firm said net income ticked up to USD19.88 billion from USD19.44 billion a year earlier. This was despite net sales ticking down to USD81.80 billion from USD82.96 billion. The iPhone inventor also ticked up its quarterly dividend to USD0.24 per share from USD0.23 a year earlier. "We are happy to report that we had an all-time revenue record in Services during the June quarter, driven by over one billion paid subscriptions, and we saw continued strength in emerging markets thanks to robust sales of iPhone," said CEO Tim Cook.
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Amazon beat Street expectations on the top and bottom line, with revenue boosted by strong growth in Amazon Web Services. The Seattle-based online retailer reported 11% growth in second quarter revenue to USD134.4 billion from USD121.2 billion a year ago, swinging to net income of USD6.7 billion from a net loss of USD2.0 billion before. Earnings per diluted share of USD0.65 compared with a net loss per share of USD0.20. The figures topped analysts forecast for revenue of USD131.5 billion and EPS of USD0.35. "It was another strong quarter of progress for Amazon," said Andy Jassy, Amazon CEO. "We continued lowering our cost to serve in our fulfilment network, while also providing Prime customers with the fastest delivery speeds we've ever recorded."
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By Sophie Rose, Alliance News reporter
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