London open: Stocks flat as investors eye payrolls

London stocks were flat in early trade on Friday following a record close a day earlier, as investors eyed the latest US non-farm payrolls report.
At 0845 GMT, the FTSE 100 was steady at 8,724.55.

Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "The widely-expected UK rate cut hasn't been enough to help propel the FTSE 100 beyond yesterday's record close, as investors take on board the Bank of England's hammer blow to its forecast for UK economic growth, amid worries about stagflation taking hold. GDP is now expected to grow just 0.75% in 2025. The pound weakened further against the US dollar as governor Andrew Bailey hinted at further rate cuts to come.

"US non-farm payrolls later today, expected to have added 169,000 jobs last month will provide a temperature check on the US economy. In stark contrast to the UK, the US Chamber of Commerce expects GDP to rise over 3% this year."

The payrolls report for January is due at 1330 GMT, along with the unemployment rate and average earnings.

On home shores, the latest house price index from Halifax showed that prices jumped in January to reach fresh highs, reversing December's fall.

Prices rose by a surprise 0.7% in January, following a 0.2% dip a month earlier. Analysts had been expecting a far smaller improvement of 0.2%.

The average property price now stands at £299,138 - a new record high.

However, growth slowed marginally year-on-year, to 3% from 3.4% in December. It was the slowest annual rate since July.

Amanda Bryden, head of mortgages at Halifax, said: "Affordability is still a challenge for many would-be buyers, but the market's resilience is noteworthy.

"There's strong demand for new mortgages and growth in lending. With a stamp duty increase looming, some of this demand may have come from first-time buyers eager to complete transactions before the end of March.

"Despite geopolitical uncertainties and waning consumer confidence, other key indicators look fairly positive for the housing market."

Elsewhere, industry data showed retail footfall jumped in January as shoppers braved winter weather to hit the January sales.

According to the latest BRC-Sensormatic footfall monitor, total footfall increased by 6.6% last month, comfortably reversing December's 2.2% decline. All types of destinations saw an uptick in footfall, led by retail parks and shopping centres.

Footfall had been flat in December in retail parks, but jumped 7.9% in January, while shopping centres saw a 7.4% increase following a 3.3% decline a month earlier.

On high streets, footfall rose by 4.5%, compared to a 2.7% dip in December.

Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, said: "Store visits increased substantially in the first week of the month, as many consumers hit the January sales.

"Despite snowy weather and Storm Eowyn causing disruption in some areas, footfall was still positive across major UK cities over the whole month."

In equity markets, Legal & General shot to the top of the FTSE 100 as it announced the sale of its US protection business to Japanese peer Meiji Yasuda, with the latter taking a 5% stake in L&G in a deal worth $2.3bn.

The transaction will kickstart a long-term strategic partnership between the two companies to support growth ambitions in US Pension Risk Transfer and asset management markets. L&G intends to launch a £1.0bn buyback following completion, which is expected towards the end of 2025.

Victrex was little changed as it held guidance after a solid first-quarter performance saw revenues rise 9% but warned trading conditions remain mixed, with medical revenues continuing to be subdued on a year-to-date basis, driven by ongoing industry destocking among its customers.

International Workplace Group rallied after an upgrade to 'overweight' at Barclays, while Wizz Air was boosted by an upgrade to 'buy' at HSBC.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 8,724.55 -0.03%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 21,021.63 0.23%
techMARK (TASX) 4,727.82 -0.39%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Legal & General Group (LGEN) 255.60p 6.99%
easyJet (EZJ) 536.00p 1.28%
SSE (SSE) 1,586.00p 1.12%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 68.74p 1.09%
National Grid (NG.) 987.00p 1.00%
Glencore (GLEN) 357.80p 0.95%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,473.00p 0.94%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 1,005.50p 0.89%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,490.00p 0.89%
CRH (CDI) (CRH) 8,434.00p 0.79%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

GSK (GSK) 1,450.50p -1.96%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 11,596.00p -1.61%
Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 775.20p -1.10%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 349.80p -0.99%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,016.50p -0.83%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 619.00p -0.64%
Rightmove (RMV) 664.40p -0.63%
Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 21,280.00p -0.61%
Smurfit Westrock (DI) (SWR) 4,427.00p -0.61%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 1,082.00p -0.51%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Drax Group (DRX) 665.50p 7.17%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 1,578.00p 5.41%
International Workplace Group (IWG) 184.50p 4.65%
Petershill Partners (PHLL) 276.50p 3.17%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 89.70p 3.10%
Marshalls (MSLH) 269.50p 2.67%
Empiric Student Property (ESP) 85.90p 2.02%
Ibstock (IBST) 176.60p 1.85%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 114.10p 1.69%
AO World (AO.) 103.00p 1.58%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Bloomsbury Publishing (BMY) 630.00p -3.96%
Primary Health Properties (PHP) 90.00p -3.12%
Tate & Lyle (TATE) 639.00p -2.59%
Pagegroup (PAGE) 324.80p -2.23%
JPMorgan Emerging Markets Inv Trust (JMG) 109.80p -1.79%
Trustpilot Group (TRST) 351.00p -1.27%
Worldwide Healthcare Trust (WWH) 342.00p -1.16%
Capital Gearing Trust (CGT) 4,795.00p -1.13%
TR Property Inv Trust (TRY) 306.00p -0.97%
Bellevue Healthcare Trust (Red) (BBH) 146.00p -0.95%