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London open: Markets cautious ahead of US jobs report

Fri, 06th Jul 2012 08:56

- Markets look ahead to US jobs report- Investors shrug off central bank action- Aviva jumps on Delta Lloyds disposalFollowing a subdued reaction to central bank policy decisions yesterday, European markets were lower in early trading on Friday as investors looked ahead to key employment data in the US due out later today.Stocks on Thursday seemed to shrug off the news that the Bank of England (BoE) ramped up its asset purchase programme and the European Central Bank (ECB) and the People's Bank of China (PBoC) both slashed their benchmark interest rates.Critics to the BoE move said that the £50bn increase in quantitative easing will only have a marginal effect on the real economy. ECB governing council member Erkki Liikanen said that the European rate cut should not be expected to save the day. Meanwhile, some say that the Chinese decision reflects policymakers' concerns about a 'hard-landing'."Risky assets failed to rally yesterday despite policy easing measures in China, the euro area and the UK. With the data calendar otherwise light today, the market's full attention therefore turns to the US employment report," said Barclays Capital analyst Khrishnamoorthy Sooben.The monthly jobs data from the Labor Department is expected to see over 100,000 non-farm payrolls added in June. The jobless rate is expected to remain at 8.2%.Aviva ups size of Delta Lloyd disposalHaving promised on Thursday that it would raise money from disposals, insurance giant Aviva moved quickly to act on that pledge by saying it will sell more of its stake in Delta Lloyd than originally intended, prompting a sharp rise in its share price early on.Food, ingredients and retail firm Associated British Foods rose after saying that it is to buy ethnic flour brand Elephant Atta from Premier Foods for £34m.Plumbing and heating group Wolseley was being pressured lower after Morgan Stanley downgraded its rating on the stock to 'equal weight'. Meanwhile, Barclays was lower after after Bernstein cut its rating to 'market perform'.Cooker maker AGA Rangemaster fell after saying that a strong performance in May was followed by a quiet June, as it continues to experience tough trading conditions, particularly in Ireland.Semi-conductor wafer products provider IQE jump after receiving its first major orders for concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) wafers from Solar Junction, a leading edge CPV cell developer and manufacturer.Shares in AIM-listed PSG Solutions rocketed after the group saw sales jump from £10.7m to £37.3m in the year to the end of March.FTSE 100 - RisersAviva (AV.) 293.00p +2.95%G4S (GFS) 290.80p +1.50%InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 1,562.00p +1.36%Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 2,567.00p +1.10%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 157.20p +0.96%Shire Plc (SHP) 1,818.00p +0.89%Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,295.00p +0.86%RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 108.90p +0.83%Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 3,527.00p +0.83%Hammerson (HMSO) 453.90p +0.80%FTSE 100 - FallersGKN (GKN) 206.70p -2.04%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 203.00p -2.03%Kingfisher (KGF) 270.30p -1.92%Polymetal International (POLY) 877.00p -1.90%Evraz (EVR) 253.10p -1.82%ICAP (IAP) 320.50p -1.66%Wolseley (WOS) 2,377.00p -1.61%Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 325.00p -1.28%CRH (CRH) 1,200.00p -1.15%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 749.50p -1.12%FTSE 250 - RisersAveva Group (AVV) 1,748.00p +3.01%Soco International (SIA) 332.80p +2.05%Spirent Communications (SPT) 169.30p +1.68%Shaftesbury (SHB) 534.00p +1.42%Bumi (BUMI) 318.20p +1.27%BH Macro Ltd. GBP Shares (BHMG) 1,928.02p +1.21%Ferrexpo (FXPO) 223.40p +1.09%Carpetright (CPR) 666.00p +1.06%Britvic (BVIC) 305.70p +1.02%Great Portland Estates (GPOR) 407.70p +0.97%FTSE 250 - FallersCarillion (CLLN) 256.00p -4.44%Petropavlovsk (POG) 466.30p -2.37%Talvivaara Mining Company (TALV) 145.00p -2.23%Big Yellow Group (BYG) 298.20p -2.20%Man Group (EMG) 62.00p -1.98%Atkins (WS) (ATK) 715.00p -1.85%Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 746.00p -1.84%Cranswick (CWK) 815.50p -1.69%Halfords Group (HFD) 199.90p -1.67%Lonmin (LMI) 730.50p -1.62%BC

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