London midday: Stocks slightly in the red ahead of US jobs figures
By Alexander Bueso
Date: Thursday 24 Apr 2025
(Sharecast News) - Stocks were trading a tad lower come midday, but had come off their lows, as investors waited on the latest weekly jobs data in the US.
Up until now the American jobs market has held its own, but some analysts were wary that recent market losses might have led companies to start changing their hiring and firing decisions.
As of 1150 GMT, the FTSE 100 was dipping by 0.15% or 12.90 points to 8.390,75, while the second-tier index was down by 0.19% or 37.32 points at 19,445.73.
On the trade front, on Thursday morning Beijing called on Washington to repeal all unilateral tariffs and dismissed talk of ongoing negotiations aimed at reaching a deal.
Ukraine was also still very much on everyone's mind after the US president criticised what he saw as 'inflammatory remarks' by Volodymyr Zelensky.
A massive drone and missile attack overnight against Kyiv by Russia did little to help matters.
Worth noting, in an interview due to be published on 26 April on 'The Europe Conversation', Polish President, Andrzej Duda, would reportedly call on all sides to cede something in order to help end the war.
At 1230 GMT, the US Department of Labor would release weekly jobless claims figures.
In parallel, the Department of Commerce would publish durable goods orders data for March.
Weir Group, Unilever deliver positive updates
Weir Group reported continued strong demand in the first quarter on Thursday, driven by high mining activity, with original equipment and aftermarket orders each rising 5% year-on-year. The FTSE 100 engineering services company highlighted positive momentum in orders for brownfield and sustainability projects, and noted improving aftermarket demand, particularly in minerals and ESCO products.
Consumer goods conglomerate Unilever said it expected a "modest" improvement in underlying operating margin for the full year, versus 18.4% in 2024, adding that the impact of US tariffs would be "limited and manageable". The company on Thursday reaffirmed annual guidance after reporting underlying sales growth of 3% for the first quarter.
Investment platform operator AJ Bell said on Thursday that its platform business had ended H1 with record assets under administration as it delivered "strong growth" in customer numbers. AJ Bell said its platform business reported a 13% increase in assets under administration at £90.4m, while customer numbers increased by 18% year-on-year in Q2 to close at 593,000, with total advised customers up 7% at 177,000 and total D2C customers increasing by 23% to 416,000. Gross inflows grew 18% to £4.0bn and net inflows improved 19% to £1.9bn.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 8,392.17 -0.13%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,452.25 -0.16%
techMARK (TASX) 4,428.39 0.14%
FTSE 100 - Risers
St James's Place (STJ) 945.60p 3.80%
Croda International (CRDA) 3,015.00p 2.31%
Weir Group (WEIR) 2,250.00p 2.18%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 586.00p 1.74%
Unite Group (UTG) 876.50p 1.62%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,000.00p 1.52%
BP (BP.) 362.75p 1.40%
LondonMetric Property (LMP) 192.20p 1.16%
Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 815.40p 1.14%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 77.92p 0.93%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 237.60p -5.38%
Bunzl (BNZL) 2,320.00p -2.77%
Spirax Group (SPX) 5,840.00p -2.67%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 825.10p -2.38%
Smurfit Westrock (DI) (SWR) 3,123.00p -2.35%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 258.20p -2.31%
Entain (ENT) 564.80p -2.01%
Hiscox Limited (DI) (HSX) 1,142.00p -1.81%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 393.50p -1.60%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 337.10p -1.40%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Indivior (INDV) 759.50p 9.28%
Senior (SNR) 126.80p 4.97%
Deliveroo Class (ROO) 142.70p 4.93%
Endeavour Mining (EDV) 2,080.00p 2.06%
Diversified Energy Company (DEC) 918.50p 2.06%
Victrex plc (VCT) 837.00p 1.95%
Close Brothers Group (CBG) 307.60p 1.85%
Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 174.10p 1.81%
Currys (CURY) 101.90p 1.80%
Greencoat UK Wind (UKW) 112.90p 1.71%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Inchcape (INCH) 644.00p -6.94%
Vesuvius (VSVS) 321.00p -5.53%
Bodycote (BOY) 455.60p -3.80%
Ocean Wilsons Holdings Ltd. (OCN) 1,375.00p -3.51%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 1,573.00p -2.90%
Morgan Sindall Group (MGNS) 3,350.00p -2.90%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 268.20p -2.76%
Bridgepoint Group (Reg S) (BPT) 254.60p -2.68%
Derwent London (DLN) 1,899.00p -2.67%
Domino's Pizza Group (DOM) 270.40p -2.52%
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