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London open: FTSE nudges up as investors digest jobs data
London stocks were a smidgen higher in early trade on Tuesday as investors mulled the latest UK jobs data.
At 0835 GMT, the FTSE 100 was up 0.1% at 8,772.00.
Figures released earlier by the Office for National Statistics showed that pay growth accelerated in the three months to December, while the unemployment rate was steady.
The unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.4%, versus expectations for it tick up to 4.5%.
Average earnings including bonuses rose by 6% on the year, up from 5.5% in November. Excluding bonuses, wages grew 5.9% – the fastest rate in eight months – up from 5.6%.
Liz McKeown, director of economic statistics at the ONS said, said: “Growth in pay, excluding bonuses, rose for a third consecutive time, with increases in both the private and public sector.”
The figures also revealed an estimated 819,000 vacancies in November 2024 to January 2025, down by 9,000 from August to October 2024.
Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “Today’s UK wage data came in mixed – December’s growth was slightly stronger than the economists had expected but fell short of the Bank of England’s forecast.
“There’ll be debate about whether this is a signal to worry about inflation again, but reading between the lines, this shouldn’t hinder the Bank of England’s plans for a gradual reduction in rates over 2025, with markets still anticipating a couple of cuts by year-end.”
In equity markets, Antofagasta gained as the copper miner reported an 11% jump in full-year earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation and said demand for copper remained strong.
Glencore rose as Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of the miner to ‘overweight’ from ‘equalweight’ and said it was its new “top pick”.
On the downside, BT Group slid after a downgrade to ‘sell’ from ‘buy’ at Citi, which cut its price target to 112p from 200p as it noted that Openreach was facing a revenue decline. Airtel Africa also lost ground after a downgrade to ‘neutral’ from ‘buy’ by the same outfit.
InterContinental Hotels was in the red despite posting a rise in full-year profits, lifting its dividend, and announcing a $900m share buyback programme and the acquisition of the Ruby brand for $116m.
BHP was trading down as it slashed its dividend and reported a sharp fall in half-year profits as lower iron ore prices caused by weaker demand from China offset higher copper earnings.
Plus500 slumped even as it announced a $110m share buyback and hailed strong full-year results.
Top 10 FTSE 100 Risers
| Sponsored by Plus500 |
|
| # | Name | Change Pct | Change | Cur Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
Antofagasta Plc | +2.67% | +49.00 | 1,885.00 |
| 2 |  |
International Consolidated Airlines Group S.a. | +1.64% | +5.50 | 341.60 |
| 3 |  |
Natwest | +1.32% | +5.80 | 444.80 |
| 4 |  |
Rolls-royce | +1.29% | +8.20 | 643.60 |
| 5 |  |
Hsbc Holdings Plc | +1.27% | +11.20 | 892.50 |
| 6 |  |
Glencore Plc | +1.24% | +4.35 | 354.75 |
| 7 |  |
Barclays | +1.17% | +3.55 | 307.95 |
| 8 |  |
Ashtead Group Plc | +0.90% | +46.00 | 5,158.00 |
| 9 |  |
Melrose Industries Plc | +0.84% | +5.40 | 648.80 |
| 10 |  |
Lloyds Banking Group Plc | +0.60% | +0.38 | 63.30 |
Top 10 FTSE 100 Fallers
| Sponsored by Plus500 |
|
| # | Name | Change Pct | Change | Cur Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
Bt Group Plc | -5.11% | -7.75 | 143.80 |
| 2 |  |
Intercontinental Hotels Group Plc | -2.99% | -320.00 | 10,375.00 |
| 3 |  |
Sainsbury (j) Plc | -2.14% | -5.60 | 255.80 |
| 4 |  |
Tesco Plc | -1.61% | -6.40 | 390.60 |
| 5 |  |
Severn Trent Plc | -1.29% | -32.00 | 2,441.00 |
| 6 |  |
United Utilities Group Plc | -1.21% | -12.00 | 978.40 |
| 7 |  |
Smurfit Westrock Plc | -1.15% | -50.00 | 4,284.00 |
| 8 |  |
Mondi Plc | -1.06% | -14.00 | 1,305.50 |
| 9 |  |
Diageo Plc | -1.00% | -21.50 | 2,130.00 |
| 10 |  |
Sse Plc | -0.94% | -14.00 | 1,483.00 |
Tuesday newspaper round-up: Meta, seaborne gas shipments, Naked Wines
Meta has announced plans to build the world’s longest underwater cable project, which aims to connect the US, India, South Africa, Brazil and other regions. The tech company said Project Waterworth involved a 50,000km (31,000-mile) subsea cable, which is longer than the Earth’s circumference. The cable would be the longest to date that uses a 24 fibre-pair system, giving it a higher capacity, and would help support its AI projects, according to Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. – Guardian
European imports of seaborne gas shipments fell by a fifth last year to their lowest level since the pandemic, according to a new report, while the UK’s plunged by nearly a half, but governments are continuing to spend billions on new import terminals. The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) found that Europe’s imports of liquefied natural gas, known as LNG, fell by 19% last year to lows not seen since 2021 as governments worked to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy. – Guardian
Public sector workers in Scotland have been awarded bigger pay rises than anywhere else in the UK, driving up Holyrood’s wage bill after the SNP Government hired thousands of new staff. Pay for state employees in Scotland has risen by 5pc above inflation since 2019, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), compared to an increase of 0pc for public sector workers across the rest of the UK. – Telegraph
Rachel Reeves will have to raise taxes by an extra £12bn if she wants to boost defence spending to 2.5pc of GDP and avoid a fresh round of austerity. Economists warned that meeting Sir Keir Starmer’s ambition to bolster the defence budget implied the Chancellor would have to raise taxes or cut spending by £6bn a year alone if she wanted to hit the target by the end of the decade. – Telegraph
Two of Britain’s biggest banks are to remove climate targets from their annual bonus schemes for senior executives, reflecting a wider shift in the business world to drop environmental and diversity measures linked to pay. Barclays and NatWest are to abandon sustainability metrics as performance measures from annual awards in revamps of executive pay and instead move climate targets into long-term share-based incentive schemes that pay out according to the banks’ rolling performance over three years. Both lenders argue that the changes better reflect the long-term nature of climate-related goals. – The Times
Customers of Naked Wines are at risk of losing all their money because of the company’s failure to segregate client accounts, a leading activist investor has warned. Richard Bernstein, investment manager at Crystal Amber, said he was concerned that Naked’s 706,000 “angel” customers were unaware of the risks implicit in its business model and that what the company presented as “net cash” was in fact a liability. – The Times
