• Footsie opens slightly lower, awaiting key US data
• London Stock Exchange after announcing £750m share buy back
• WPP (LON:WPP) falls after first half update
FTSE 100 traded slightly lower on Friday when the market opened for trading.
At 8.20am the blue chip index was down 4.93 points at 7,443.13 with the broader FTSE 250 index up 2.11 points at 20,157.87.
Richard Hunter, Head of Markets at interactive investor commented: “The FTSE100 has opened in tentatively negative fashion, following a fairly flat Wall Street performance and despite a slightly more upbeat showing across Asian markets.”
“The UK’s premier index remains a rare beacon of light in global terms, having added 0.8% in the year to date, underpinned by a mix of strong overseas earnings, a selection of defensive options and the rise in energy prices.”
“The FTSE 250 has taken the brunt of concerns on UK economic prospects, however, being a more representative domestic index, and currently stands down by 14% in the year to date.”
Oil majors fell back on concerns that slowing economic growth would hit demand with Shell (LON:RDSa) PLC (LSE:SHEL, NYSE:SHEL) (down 1.08%) and BP PLC (LSE:LON:BP.) (down 0.97%) both lower.
The London Stock Exchange was a firm early feature with shares up 1.18% to 8,233p after announcing a £750mln share buy back alongside strong first half results.
But WPP fell back 3.49% to 861.40p after its first half numbers.
The advertising group announced like for like revenue growth of 8.7% to £6,755mln and a 6.1% increase in reported pre-tax profits to £419m.
It said the group’s transformation programme was on track to deliver an expected £300mln of annual savings this year over a 2019 base and that it expects full year 2022 like for like revenue less pass-through costs growth to be 6.0-7.0%.
7.30am: FTSE 100 seen in lacklustre mood at Friday's open
FTSE 100 is seen little changed when trading starts on Friday with investors digesting yesterday’s news from the Bank of England and looking ahead to the US non-farm payrolls data this afternoon.
Spread betting companies are calling the blue chip index 7 points higher.
Michael Hewson Chief Market Analyst at CMC Markets UK said: “Despite the bad news that the market had to digest yesterday, it was surprising that European markets managed to finish the day in the green as investors absorbed the biggest rate hike by the Bank of England in 27 years.”
“US markets finished the session mixed, with the Nasdaq 100 closing higher with the Dow and S&P500 closing lower, while yields fell too.”
“Today’s July payrolls are expected to see 250k jobs added, which coincidentally was the forecast for June, which was beaten quite comfortably.”
“It will still be the lowest number this year, however the strength of the labour market may well be starting to increase in the level of importance when it comes to how aggressive the Fed is likely to be when it comes to tackling inflation.”
Referring to the Bank of England announcement Hewson said: “the Bank of England’s economic assessment was as dark as it could be.”
“There is little doubt that the new Prime Minister will need to take additional fiscal measures in the form of an emergency budget to support an economy that is already on the cusp of a recession, and where annual energy bills look set to rise to £3,850 next year.”
On a quieter day of corporate news WPP announced first half results with like for like revenue growth of 8.7% to £6,755mln and a 6.1% increase in reported pre-tax profits to £419mln.
The advertising giant said client demand strong across most segments and regions with US$3.4bn in new billings in the period.
The group’s transformation programme remains on track to deliver expected £300mln of annual savings this year over a 2019 base and WPP expects full year 2022 like for like revenue less pass-through costs growth to be 6.0-7.0%.
The London Stock Exchange launched a £750mln share buyback scheme as it reported its half year figures with strong progress in all divisions.
Adjusted pre-tax profit was £1,327mln against £1,033mln in the same period last year, total Income grew by £717mln to £3,735mln.
7.00am: FTSE 100 seen little changed at open
FTSE 100 is expected to make a lacklustre start to trading on Friday following a mixed showing in the US and ahead of the US jobs report on Friday.
Spread betting companies are calling the lead index around 7 points higher.
The Dow closed Thursday down 85 points, 0.3%, at 32,727, while the Nasdaq Composite added 52 points, 0.4%, to reach 12,721 and the S&P 500 ticked down 3 points, less than 0.1%, to 4,152.
The relative lack of movement could be a sign of investors waiting on Friday's jobs report. Economists project that roughly 250,000 jobs were added in July, which would be lower than 372,000 in June, according to media reports. The jobless rate is forecast to remain unchanged at 3.6%, according to FactSet.
“I would certainly consider today one of those wait-and-see days while we wait for the most important piece of data that comes out this week,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley Financial, as reported by CNBC.