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(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are called to open higher on Friday, as investors eye a key nonfarm payroll reading in the US.
In early news, UK house prices fell again in September, however the pace of the month-on-month decline slowed, according to the Halifax house price index.
Focus now turns to Friday's nonfarm payrolls data, the official employment report. The reading is expected to show jobs growth of 170,000 in September, easing from 187,000 in August. The data is released at 1330 BST.
"Today's data could be one of the most important jobs data of the year," said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank
In corporate news, JD Wetherspoon reported that it swung to a profit in its recent financial year.
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 0.3% at 7,475.90
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Hang Seng: up 1.5% at 17,467.34
Nikkei 225: down 0.3% at 30,994.67
S&P/ASX 200: up 0.4% at 6,954.20
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DJIA: closed down 9.98 points at 33,119.57
S&P 500: closed down 5.56 points, or 0.%, at 4,258.19
Nasdaq Composite: closed down 16.18 points, or 0.1%, at 13,219.83
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EUR: up at USD1.0535 (USD1.0526)
GBP: up at USD1.2166 (USD1.2164)
USD: up at JPY148.91 (JPY148.83)
Gold: up at USD1,818.99 per ounce (USD1,815.53)
(Brent): down at USD84.24 a barrel (USD84.56)
(changes since previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS
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Friday's key economic events still to come:
08:30 EDT Canada labour force survey
08:45 CEST France foreign trade
08:45 CEST France balance of payments
11:00 IST Ireland GDP
09:00 CEST Switzerland SNB foreign currency reserves
08:30 EDT US employment report
15:00 EDT US consumer credit
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UK house prices fell again in September, but the pace of the month-on-month decline slowed, according to the Halifax house price index released on Friday. Halifax said average house prices in the UK fell by 0.4% in September from August, slowing from a 1.8% decline in August from July. Market consensus cited by FXStreet had expected house prices to have declined by 0.8% on a monthly basis. Annually, prices fell by 4.7% in September, accelerating from a 4.5% decline in August. The average UK home now costs GBP278,601, around the level seen in early 2022. It is a GBP1,200 reduction from August. Kim Kinnaird, director of Halifax Mortgages, commented: "Activity levels continue to look subdued compared to recent years, with industry data showing lower levels of new instructions to sell homes and agreed sales. Borrowing costs are the primary factor, given the impact of higher interest rates on mortgage affordability. Against this backdrop, homeowners inevitably become more realistic about their target selling price, reflecting what has increasingly become a buyer's market."
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The Swiss unemployment rate was unchanged at 2.0% in September, according to new figures on Friday. According to the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, the unemployment rate was unchanged from August. SECO said that 90,826 people were registered as unemployed in September, which is up 945 from the previous month. The figure was 1,300 lower than September a year before.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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Barclays raises Bunzl to 'equal weight' (underweight) - price target 3,100 (2,750) pence
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UBS raises Rio Tinto to 'neutral' (sell) - price target 5,200 (4,800) pence
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Citigroup raises Imperial Brands to 'buy' (neutral) - price target 1,980 (1,865) pence
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Shell updated shareholders on its third quarter outlook. It said it expects trading and optimisation in its its Integrated Gas arm to higher compare to the second quarter of 2023. It said the same about its Chemicals & Products division. In Marketing, it expects results to be similar year-on-year.
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Imperial Brands announced the start of its share buyback tranche, which is up to GBP550 million. On Thursday, the Bristol-based tobacco company announced a buyback of up to GBP1.1 billion shares, starting from Friday and running to September 2024. This represents a 10% increase on last year's GBP1 billion buyback, when the company repurchased 52.1 million shares, or 5.5%, of its share capital.
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GSK said it has completed the sale of its shares in Haleon, the consumer healthcare business it demerged last year. The sale was announced Thursday. It has now sold 270 million shares at a price of 328 pence each, worth GBP885.6 million in total. GSK is now interested in about 7.4% of Haleon's issued share capital.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Wetherspoon reported that in the year ended July 30 revenue rose 11% to USD1.93 billion from USD1.74 billion a year earlier. It swung to a pretax profit of GBP42.6 million from a loss of GBP30.4 million. Wetherspoon decided against paying a dividend, similarly to last year. Looking ahead, the company said it continues to perform "well." In the first nine weeks of the current financial year, sales are up 9.9% annually. "As we said last year, perhaps the biggest threat to the hospitality industry is the possibility of further lockdowns and restrictions," Chair Tim Martin said.
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OTHER COMPANIES
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Metro Bank has begun a process to sell a GBP3 billion chunk of its mortgage book to shore up its finances, Sky News reported on Thursday. The under pressure lender as sized up high street banking neighbours as possible buyers, including Lloyds Banking Group PLC and NatWest Group PLC, Sky News reported, citing City sources. The measures would form part of a wider capital raising plan, which Sky News reported would include a GBP100 million equity raise and a refinancing of GBP350 million worth of debt which is due roughly this time next year. The Financial Times had that Metro Bank's possible balance sheet boosting efforts would be worth GBP600 million, GBP250 million in equity funding and GBP350 million in debt. On Thursday, Metro Bank said it "continues to consider how best to enhance its capital resources." In particular, it noted its GBP350 million senior non-preferred notes due in October 2025.
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Exxon Mobil is in talks to acquire shale driller Pioneer Natural Resources Co, according to a person familiar with the matter cited by Bloomberg on Friday. The deal, which was first reported on by the Wall Street Journal, could be worth as much as USD60 billion. It would likely be Exxon's biggest in over two decades since the USD81 billion merger with Mobil in 1998. Bloomberg said the combination would unify two of the biggest holders of acreage in the Permian Basin of Texas and New Mexico, making Exxon the oil field's biggest producer with an output of around 1.2 million barrels a day. This is more than many Opec nations, Bloomberg noted. While the deal is "advanced", Bloomberg's source said the transaction could still fall apart.
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By Sophie Rose, Alliance News reporter
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