London open: Stocks fall ahead of payrolls; AJ Bell surges on upgrade

(Sharecast News) - London stocks fell in early trade on Friday as investors eyed the latest US non-farm payrolls report. At 0910 GMT, the FTSE 100 was down 0.5% at 7,520.25.

Sophie Lund-Yates, lead equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "The latest employment report is due from the US today, which would be the last before the Federal Reserve meets in mid-December. A weak figure would increase recession risk, which may well keep markets subdued.

"However, at the same time, poor economic expectations reduce the Fed's need to take heat out of the economy by sharp interest rate increases to tackle inflation, so the net effect of a worse-than-expected number may not be as badly received as feared.

"Expectations are for a 208,000 increase, which, if met, is likely to increase investors' willingness to take risks, which should in turn boost markets. In the meantime, markets are nervously awaiting the results, with Asian stocks trading lower, and US futures edging downwards too. That's likely to bleed into the FTSE which could end the week on a low note."

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

In equity markets, BP, Harbour Energy and Shell all gushed lower as oil prices eased ahead of Opec+ talks.

On the upside, Primark owner AB Foods was the top performer on the FTSE 100 after upgrades to 'overweight' at Morgan Stanley and to 'neutral' at Goldman Sachs.

Elsewhere, AJ Bell surged to the top of the FTSE 250 after an upgrade to 'buy' at Jefferies.

Low-cost airline Wizz Air flew higher after saying it had seen passenger numbers jump in November. A total of 3.68m passengers were booked onto Wizz Air flights last month, a 70% hike on November 2021.

IT infrastructure provider Softcat also rose after it announced the appointment of Dr Kathryn Mecklenburgh - the current interim chief financial officer of online fashion retailer Asos - as its new CFO.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,520.25 -0.51% FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,457.59 0.25% techMARK (TASX) 4,418.63 -0.10%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,642.00p 3.43% Ocado Group (OCDO) 681.40p 2.50% JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 130.75p 2.15% Frasers Group (FRAS) 914.50p 2.12% Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 869.00p 1.92% St James's Place (STJ) 1,189.50p 1.88% Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 88.52p 1.83% Intertek Group (ITRK) 4,162.00p 1.69% Halma (HLMA) 2,254.00p 1.58% Smith (DS) (SMDS) 308.40p 1.51%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

BP (BP.) 474.75p -3.00% Harbour Energy (HBR) 309.40p -2.83% Shell (SHEL) 2,331.00p -2.14% Rio Tinto (RIO) 5,498.00p -1.79% Haleon (HLN) 289.30p -1.25% Standard Chartered (STAN) 587.40p -1.24% Glencore (GLEN) 550.10p -1.19% HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 492.15p -1.15% Airtel Africa (AAF) 122.30p -0.97% Melrose Industries (MRO) 129.30p -0.92%

FTSE 250 - Risers

AJ Bell (AJB) 386.80p 7.44% Virgin Money UK (VMUK) 178.30p 3.90% W.A.G Payment Solutions (WPS) 83.00p 3.75% 4Imprint Group (FOUR) 4,365.00p 3.44% Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 83.65p 3.14% Pets at Home Group (PETS) 272.00p 2.56% Investec (INVP) 481.30p 2.49% Future (FUTR) 1,522.00p 2.42% Kainos Group (KNOS) 1,652.00p 2.35% Hammerson (HMSO) 23.60p 2.34%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Energean (ENOG) 1,362.00p -8.53% Carnival (CCL) 700.60p -3.47% RIT Capital Partners (RCP) 2,195.00p -3.09% Tullow Oil (TLW) 42.64p -2.65% Syncona Limited NPV (SYNC) 178.00p -2.63% Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 219.00p -2.01% Telecom Plus (TEP) 2,450.00p -2.00% Lancashire Holdings Limited (LRE) 597.00p -1.49% Capricorn Energy (CNE) 249.40p -1.34% Blackrock Throgmorton Trust (THRG) 600.00p -1.32%