London midday: Stocks dip ahead of payrolls; L&G surges

(Sharecast News) - London stocks had fallen into the red by midday on Friday following a record close a day earlier, as investors eyed the latest US non-farm payrolls report. The FTSE 100 was down 0.3% at 8,703.22.

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 UK 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, Victrex traded down 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.

On the upside, Legal & General surged 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.

Drax jumped, with traders pointing to deal speculation in the sector after a Bloomberg report suggested that Abu Dhabi National Energy Co. is considering reviving a plan to buy a stake in Spanish utility Naturgy Energy Group.

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) 8,703.22 -0.28% FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,887.11 -0.41% techMARK (TASX) 4,729.09 -0.37%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Legal & General Group (LGEN) 249.90p 4.60% Compass Group (CPG) 2,762.00p 1.02% BP (BP.) 433.35p 1.01% Glencore (GLEN) 357.75p 0.93% Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 4,210.00p 0.91% BAE Systems (BA.) 1,195.00p 0.84% Vodafone Group (VOD) 68.54p 0.79% Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 3,012.00p 0.74% International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 365.60p 0.61% Anglo American (AAL) 2,464.50p 0.59%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Barratt Redrow (BTRW) 439.60p -2.96% Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 344.30p -2.55% Mondi (MNDI) 1,276.00p -2.33% Intermediate Capital Group (ICG) 2,334.00p -1.93% Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 117.65p -1.88% GSK (GSK) 1,453.00p -1.79% Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 770.40p -1.71% Land Securities Group (LAND) 583.50p -1.60% Persimmon (PSN) 1,239.50p -1.55% Entain (ENT) 732.40p -1.43%

FTSE 250 - Risers

International Workplace Group (IWG) 182.10p 3.29% Ferrexpo (FXPO) 89.40p 2.76% Drax Group (DRX) 637.00p 2.58% Babcock International Group (BAB) 590.00p 2.08% Foresight Solar Fund Limited (FSFL) 74.30p 1.92% Bakkavor Group (BAKK) 140.50p 1.81% Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 237.50p 1.71% Ashmore Group (ASHM) 173.90p 1.34% CMC Markets (CMCX) 228.50p 1.33% Sequoia Economic Infrastructure Income Fund Limited (SEQI) 78.50p 1.29%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Vistry Group (VTY) 582.50p -3.32% Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 108.60p -3.21% Raspberry PI Holdings (RPI) 744.25p -2.78% Indivior (INDV) 825.50p -2.60% Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 1,966.00p -1.95% Jupiter Fund Management (JUP) 78.30p -1.88% PPHE Hotel Group Ltd (PPH) 1,350.00p -1.82% Target Healthcare Reit Ltd (THRL) 87.20p -1.80% Moonpig Group (MOON) 221.50p -1.77% Howden Joinery Group (HWDN) 813.50p -1.75%