London pre-open: Stocks seen muted ahead of services PMI
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Friday 03 Jul 2020
(Sharecast News) - London stocks were set for a muted open on Friday following solid gains in the previous session on the back of a better-than-expected US non-farm payrolls report, with investors still cautious amid rising coronavirus infections in the US.
The FTSE 100 was called to open unchanged at 6,240, with a fairly quiet session expected as US markets will be closed.
CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: "Another decent jobs report proved to be the catalyst for US markets to finish the week with another strong finish. The Nasdaq, as has been its wont in recent days hit yet another all-time high, while the S&P500 closed at its highest weekly finish since the beginning of June.
"Asia markets have continued this positive vibe, helped by the latest China Caixin services PMI for June which came in at 58.4, its best rate of expansion in over 10 years, and up from 53.2 in May. This vibe doesn't appear to be translating to an upward lift for European markets this morning, with the result that the markets here in Europe look set to open slightly lower.
"This maybe isn't so surprising given that markets look set for a positive week in any case, while volumes could well be lower in the absence of US markets today, as they celebrate the 4th July Independence day holiday."
On the UK data front, Markit's services PMI for June is at 0930 BST.
In corporate news, commercial property owner Land Securities said it planned to reinstate dividends after half year results in November as tenants reopened premises after the easing of coronavirus lockdowns.
The company said it had received 60% of June net rent due after concessions and deferrals, compared with 94% a year ago.
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