London pre-open: Stocks seen lower ahead of payrolls
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Friday 07 Mar 2025
(Sharecast News) - London stocks were set to fall again on Friday following losses in the US and Asia, as investors eyed the latest US non-farm payrolls report.
The FTSE 100 was called to open down around 55 points.
Trump's tariffs were still very much in focus. After the London close on Thursday, it emerged that the US President had signed executive actions to delay until 2 April tariffs on all products from Mexico and Canada that are covered by the USMCA free trade treaty.
Earlier announced import tariffs of 25% on steel and aluminium are still scheduled to take effect on 12 March.
The main focus on the macro front will be the US non-farm payrolls report for February due at 1330 GMT, along with average earnings and the unemployment rate.
Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank, said: "Investors will be closely watching the US jobs data this Friday. The data is expected to print 159K new non-farm job additions in February, with slowing wages growth on a monthly basis and a stable unemployment rate at 4%. But the risks are tilted to the downside due to the mass firing at the federal agencies and their implications for the broader economy.
"A set of softer-than-expected jobs figures could further weigh on the US dollar, while the worse-case-scenario for the markets would be a lower-than-expected NFP print combined with higher-than-expected wages growth - a combination that would leave the Fed facing a slowing economy with limited room to give support."
On home shores, investors will be mulling the latest data from Halifax, which showed that house prices unexpectedly dipped in February.
Prices nudged down 0.1% following a 0.6% increase in January, and versus expectations for them to tick up 0.3%.
On the year, house prices were up 2.9% in February, unchanged on the previous month.
The average price of a home stood at £298,602, down from £298,815.
Amanda Bryden, head of mortgages at Halifax, said: "February's figures highlight the delicate balance within the UK housing market. While there's been talk of a last minute rush on new mortgages ahead of the changes to stamp duty, inevitably we've seen some of the demand that was brought forward start to fade as the April deadline ticks closer, given the time needed to complete a purchase.
"That may help to explain why growth in first-time buyer property prices eased in February, falling to +2.4%, in contrast to homemover price inflation which accelerated, reaching +3.7%
"While house price growth has slowed overall, market activity remains strong and comparable to pre-pandemic levels, demonstrating a resilience amongst buyers that's been evident in the face of higher borrowing costs.
"While those affordability challenges persist, the ongoing shortage of housing supply coupled with sustained demand suggests property prices will continue to rise this year, albeit at a more measured pace compared to last year."
Also on Friday, industry research showed that retail footfall nudged higher in February, although at a far slower rate than seen in January.
According to the latest BRC-Sensormatic monitor, footfall increased by 0.2% year-on-year.
The second consecutive monthly increase, it was, however, well below January's 6.6% jump.
Retail parks reported a 2% rise, well ahead of high streets and shopping centres, which both posted a more modest 0.1% uptick in footfall.
Andy Sumpter, EMEA retail consultant at Sensormatic, said: "After January's jump-start, retail footfall stalled, with retailers seeing only the slimmest improvements.
"While the good news is that shopper counts remained steady, many would have been hoping for a more substantial leap, building on a strong start to the year.
"With Easter falling late and well into April this year, this will undoubtedly put added pressure on retailers as we head into March."
In corporate news, AstraZeneca said its Imfinzi drug when used with chemotherapy had shown "statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement" in survival in resectable early-stage gastric and gastroesophageal cancers before surgery.
The findings come from results of the Matterhorn Phase 3 trial of 948 patients.
Just Group saw full-year operating profits jump by a third. The financial services group had pledged to double its profit over five years, but has now managed that feat two years ahead of schedule.
Underlying operating profit was up by 34% to £504m. Management cited new business sales growth, higher recurring in-force profit and more scale.
Adjusted profit before tax fell by 7.3% to £482m, due to lower non-operating items. The company's total dividend per share rose by 20% to 2.5p, thanks to a 1.8p final payout.
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