London pre-open: Stocks seen up ahead of payrolls

(Sharecast News) - London stocks were set to rise at the open on Friday as investors await the release of the latest US non-farm payrolls report. The FTSE 100 was called to open 22 points higher at 7,655.

CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: "Today's December number is expected to show a slowdown to 203k; however, this could be understating things given that most of the estimates in recent months have come in below the actual numbers.

"What is slightly more worrying is the inability of the participation rate to show any signs of increasing, falling back to its lows of the year at 62.1%, while unemployment rose to 3.7%. No changes are expected to either of these.

"Nonetheless, the attention today will be less on the headline numbers but on how many services jobs are added, as well as the pace of any wage gains, as some FOMC members fret about the prospect of a wage price spiral.

"Yesterday's ADP report showed wage growth came in at 7.3%, led by a 10.1% increase in hospitality and leisure roles, which tend to be at the lower end of the wage range in any case.

"This resilience, while welcome to those at the lower end of the income scales, won't offer comfort to the Federal Reserve who fear spiralling wages, and ahead of next week's December CPI report, where it is widely expected that core inflation will see a fall below 6% to 5.7%.

"Today could be yet another example of good news being bad news for stocks, as rising rates and a stronger currency exert downward pressure on valuations. That was certainly the case yesterday for the Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 as the prospect of lower rates gets pushed further out into 2023 and into 2024."

The payrolls report is due at 1330 GMT, along with the unemployment rate and average earnings. Before that, the UK S&P Global construction PMI for December is at 0930 GMT. Investors will also be eyeing the latest eurozone inflation data at 1000 GMT.

In corporate news, components maker Essentra said it expected annual profits to be in line with expectations despite economic headwinds globally.

The company guided for full-year like-for-like revenue growth of around 6.5%.

"In Q4 2022, as anticipated, the business saw a period of slower global economic growth, with toughening market headwinds. Coupled with the strong comparative for the quarter, LFL trading day adjusted sales declined by 3% compared to Q4 2021," the company said.

Elsewhere, shipping services firm Clarkson said results for the year to the end of December were set to be ahead of current market expectations.

In a very brief statement, the company hailed strong trading throughout the final quarter, particularly from the broking division.

It now expects underlying pre-tax profit of no less than £98m.