London open: Stocks fall ahead of payrolls report
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Friday 07 Mar 2025
(Sharecast News) - London stocks fell in early trade on Friday as Trump's decision to delay tariffs on some products from Mexico and Canada failed to boost sentiment, and as investors eyed the latest US non-farm payrolls report.
At 0830 GMT, the FTSE 100 was down 0.4% at 8,651.67.
Trump's tariffs were still very much in focus. After the London close on Thursday, the US President 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.
Stephen Innes, manager partner at SPI Asset Management, said: "Wall Street got clobbered by a nasty cocktail of historic layoffs, a record trade deficit, and lingering trade war confusion. Trump may have thrown a bone with temporary tariff exemptions, but traders weren't biting. All three major US indices sank as the fog of uncertainty thickened.
"Now, all eyes are on Friday's US jobs report and Powell's speech. Sentiment is already circling the drain, and if Powell doesn't deliver a dovish lifeline, markets may be in for an even rougher ride. The bar for a relief rally keeps rising, and at this rate, it might take a full-blown Fed pivot to shake off the gloom."
The non-farm payrolls report for February is due at 1330 GMT, along with average earnings and the unemployment rate.
Danske Bank expects payrolls to have slowed to a 120,000 increase from 143,000 in January "due to negative seasonality, federal layoffs and slowing immigration constraining the growth of labour supply".
On home shores, investors were mulling the latest data from mortgage lender 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."
Ashley Webb, UK economist at Capital Economics, said: "The small 0.1% m/m fall in Halifax house prices in February is at odds with the 0.4% m/m rise in the Nationwide measure and suggests the recent rise in mortgage rates and/or the weakness in the wider economy is weighing on housing demand and prices a bit more than we previously thought.
"The recent deterioration in the outlook for employment may mean house price growth softens further over the coming months."
Also earlier, 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."
There wasn't much happening in terms of corporate news, but Just Group tumbled as it posted full-year pre-tax profit that missed consensus expectations and struck a cautious note on the outlook.
Premier Inn owner Whitbread lost ground after JPMorgan Cazenove downgraded the shares to 'neutral' from 'overweight' "on the back of a fragile UK consumer from lower income demographics".
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 8,651.67 -0.36%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,041.75 -0.58%
techMARK (TASX) 4,812.51 -0.64%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Melrose Industries (MRO) 571.00p 2.62%
Fresnillo (FRES) 850.50p 1.43%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 5,356.00p 1.17%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 70.30p 1.01%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 3,390.00p 0.83%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,165.00p 0.52%
Shell (SHEL) 2,545.00p 0.47%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 4,813.50p 0.47%
BP (BP.) 410.85p 0.43%
Barratt Redrow (BTRW) 417.20p 0.38%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 19,570.00p -2.97%
CRH (CDI) (CRH) 7,660.00p -2.74%
Smurfit Westrock (DI) (SWR) 3,625.00p -2.42%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 977.80p -2.22%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 338.60p -2.20%
Informa (INF) 757.20p -1.97%
Entain (ENT) 716.60p -1.84%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 4,492.00p -1.81%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 318.20p -1.79%
Beazley (BEZ) 878.50p -1.79%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Petershill Partners (PHLL) 262.50p 5.00%
Bridgepoint Group (Reg S) (BPT) 359.00p 4.73%
JTC (JTC) 987.00p 2.39%
Workspace Group (WKP) 417.50p 1.71%
Zigup (ZIG) 312.00p 1.30%
Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 150.20p 1.14%
Ninety One (N91) 146.50p 1.10%
Greggs (GRG) 1,777.00p 0.85%
Indivior (INDV) 768.00p 0.79%
Big Yellow Group (BYG) 902.00p 0.78%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Just Group (JUST) 143.80p -11.89%
AJ Bell (AJB) 396.00p -4.81%
Carnival (CCL) 1,460.50p -4.45%
Discoverie Group (DSCV) 523.00p -3.86%
Volution Group (FAN) 510.00p -3.59%
Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 1,850.00p -3.14%
Hays (HAS) 75.80p -2.88%
Grafton Group Ut (CDI) (GFTU) 840.10p -2.59%
Diversified Energy Company (DEC) 889.50p -2.47%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 242.40p -2.45%
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