London midday: Stocks extend gains as investors eye payrolls

(Sharecast News) - London stocks had extended gains by midday on Friday after the US Senate passed a bi-partisan agreement to raise the debt ceiling, and as investors eyed the latest non-farm payrolls report. The FTSE 100 was up 1% at 7,564.02.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "As expected, the Senate swiftly approved the new debt ceiling deal in the US prompting relief in the markets with the FTSE 100 making decent progress on Friday morning.

"A bigger bounce might have been forthcoming had investors not already been very much factoring in an agreement, with only a modest sell-off around the crisis.

"With disaster averted for now, attention will turn to other matters which have been overshadowed by the drama in Washington.

"This isn't necessarily a good thing for markets as there is plenty to worry about, including a sluggish recovery in China and continuing risks around recession and rates in the West.

"US jobs numbers this afternoon may provide some pointers to the next move by the Federal Reserve, whose decision making no longer needs to consider the potential financial stability risks associated with default on US debt.

"If the non-farm payrolls data indicates continued tightness in the labour market, the Fed may feel it has to continue with rate rises when it meets on 14 June."

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

In equity markets, heavily-weighted miners were the top performers as copper prices rose, with Antofagasta, Anglo American, Glencore and Rio all up.

Prudential rallied after JPMorgan Cazenove placed the overweight-rated shares on 'positive catalyst watch' into first-half results and said the company is on track to beat consensus for new business sales/profits by 5%/13% in 2023.

Dechra Pharmaceuticals surged after it agreed to be taken private in a £4.5bn deal.

The veterinary medicine firm said it had accepted an all-cash offer of 3,875p per share from Swedish private equity firm EQT and Luxinva, a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.

Elsewhere, JD Sports was a high riser after US sportswear retailer Lululemon lifted its full-year outlook.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,564.02 0.98% FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,055.52 1.21% techMARK (TASX) 4,578.60 0.29%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Anglo American (AAL) 2,447.50p 6.44% Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,467.00p 6.30% Rio Tinto (RIO) 5,105.00p 4.48% Prudential (PRU) 1,134.50p 3.99% Glencore (GLEN) 433.00p 3.86% JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 157.85p 3.61% Land Securities Group (LAND) 625.40p 3.00% British Land Company (BLND) 355.70p 2.89% Standard Chartered (STAN) 659.80p 2.84% Fresnillo (FRES) 695.80p 2.75%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Severn Trent (SVT) 2,657.00p -1.85% SSE (SSE) 1,847.00p -1.76% Centrica (CNA) 118.50p -1.17% National Grid (NG.) 1,043.50p -1.14% United Utilities Group (UU.) 1,021.00p -1.07% Hiscox Limited (DI) (HSX) 1,164.00p -0.85% BAE Systems (BA.) 937.60p -0.76% Beazley (BEZ) 616.00p -0.73% AstraZeneca (AZN) 11,606.00p -0.55% Melrose Industries (MRO) 485.80p -0.53%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) 3,652.00p 8.24% Ferrexpo (FXPO) 99.05p 7.78% Senior (SNR) 177.20p 4.85% National Express Group (NEX) 111.90p 4.78% Carnival (CCL) 849.80p 4.45% Big Yellow Group (BYG) 1,205.00p 4.15% Urban Logistics Reit (SHED) 141.80p 3.96% UK Commercial Property Reit Limited (UKCM) 55.60p 3.54% Derwent London (DLN) 2,226.00p 3.53% Warehouse Reit (WHR) 105.60p 3.53%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Bodycote (BOY) 621.50p -3.64% Pennon Group (PNN) 765.00p -2.30% Auction Technology Group (ATG) 731.00p -1.35% Trainline (TRN) 256.20p -1.31% Drax Group (DRX) 547.80p -1.08% CMC Markets (CMCX) 177.80p -0.89% Hilton Food Group (HFG) 679.00p -0.88% Computacenter (CCC) 2,298.00p -0.78% Ithaca Energy (ITH) 137.60p -0.72% QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 355.20p -0.67%