LONDON (Alliance News) - With the US shutdown delaying the most anticipated economic numbers of the month, non-farm payrolls, few macro drivers remain Friday, leaving UK equity indices with little overall direction. But there are some notable individual movers, notably Tate & Lyle and Carpetright.
By mid-morning Friday the FTSE 100 is perfectly flat, trading at its opening level of 6,449.00, while the FTSE 250 is down just 0.1% at 14,839.28, and the AIM All-Share is up 0.1% at 781.91.
Passenger-car sales in the UK increased for the 19th successive month in September, a report released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) showed. New car registrations increased 12.1% year-on-year to 403,136 units in September, the highest monthly total since March 2008.
The strong UK car sales nhave made automobiles and automotive parts the top-gaining sector in the FTSE 350. Automotive components company GKN sits close to the top of the FTSE 100 gainers, up 1.1%, while All-Share motor-dealership operator Pendragon is up 1.9%.
Other notable stock movers include Tate & Lyle, the biggest blue-chip gainer of the morning, up 2.5% after releasing a trading statement saying it expects another profitable year.
On the FTSE 250, Carpetright is the heaviest loser, down more than 9% after saying it expects a significant miss to full-year results expectations and that CEO Darren Shapland will step down.
On the AIM, Premier Gold Resources trades down 24% after saying it has been unable to commence operations at its Cholokkaindy mine in the Kyrgyz Republic due employee intimidation from local gangs.
The pound has softened slightly against the dollar, currently USD1.6110, while the euro remains strong, currently 1.3610, as the looming US debt ceiling continues to weigh on the greenback and impact general US investor sentiment.
With the US non-farm numbers delayed, no major macro releases remain for the week and a fairly quiet Friday session is expected.
By Jon Darby; jondarby@alliancenews.com; @jondarby100
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