London midday: Stocks gain ahead of key US jobs report
By Alexander Bueso
Date: Friday 02 May 2025
(Sharecast News) - Stocks are moving higher after Beijing opened the door to trade talks with Washington and Brussels offered to increase its purchases of US goods.
The above ahead of a reading on the US non-farm payrolls report covering the month of April.
As of 1223 GMT, the FTSE 100 was adding 69.83 points or 0.82% to 8,565.76, whilst the S&P mini futures contract was up by 24.50 points at 5,647.75.
China's Commerce Ministry issued a statement overnight highlighting what it said were repeated expressions of a willingness to negotiate on the part of US officials.
"This news broke at 01:20am London time and hence the lack of denial by Washington could mean this development may be a credible sign of some thawing in the stand-off on commencing talks," MUFG analyst Derek Halpenny said.
Halpenny also noted the interview with Maros Sefcovic published by the FT, in which the EU trade commissioner said that the bloc was offering to up its purchases of US goods by $50bn in order to address the trade imbalance.
Sefcovic also said that "certain progress" had been made.
On a dourer note, the BBC reported on a FOX News interview, this time with US vice-president JD Vance, who said that the war in Ukraine was not going to end "any time soon".
Against that backdrop, at 1230 GMT the US Department of Labor would release its non-farm payrolls report for the month of April (consensus: 138,000), which could conceivably set the tone for trading in financial markets during the month of May.
On the other side of the Channel meanwhile, at 0800 GMT S&P Global would release the results of its euro area manufacturing sector Purchasing Managers' Index.
A preliminary reading for euro area consumer prices in April would follow an hour later.
Shell approves 13th consecutive quarterly share buyback programme of over $3bn
Shell posted better-than-expected first quarter adjusted earnings and launched a fresh $3.5bn share buyback programme. The oil major's adjusted profit reached $5.58bn (consensus: $4.96bn) on $69.23bn of revenues, for earnings per share of 92 US cents. Cash flow from operations came in at $9.28bn (consensus: $9.6bn). Net debt at period end stood at $41.52bn. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of 35.8 US cents.
Asia-focused bank Standard Chartered reported better-than-expected first-quarter profit, driven by strong growth in its wealth management, but also warned of the impact of US President Donald Trump's trade war. Pre-tax profit for the three months to March came in at $2.10bn, up from $1.91bn and the $1.905bn consensus average. "Imposition of trade tariffs has increased global economic and geopolitical complexity, and we remain watchful of the external environment," said chief executive Bill Winters.
Pearson reported a 1% increase in underlying first-quarter group sales on Friday, and confirmed it was on track to meet its full-year guidance, with stronger growth anticipated in the second half. The FTSE 100 education publisher said all business units performed in line with expectations, including a 6% rise in higher education sales. It also said that it was advancing its strategic goals through product innovation, contract wins, a brand relaunch, and the launch of a £350m share buyback programme.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 8,571.00 0.87%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,132.71 -0.01%
techMARK (TASX) 4,658.99 0.67%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Haleon (HLN) 404.20p 3.99%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 446.80p 2.78%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 355.50p 2.48%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,363.50p 2.36%
Compass Group (CPG) 2,560.00p 2.32%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 828.50p 2.28%
Shell (SHEL) 2,492.00p 2.28%
Spirax Group (SPX) 6,040.00p 1.94%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,137.00p 1.91%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 270.70p 1.88%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Smurfit Westrock (DI) (SWR) 3,066.00p -2.17%
Pearson (PSON) 1,150.00p -2.09%
Kingfisher (KGF) 286.00p -2.02%
Whitbread (WTB) 2,691.00p -1.90%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 78.50p -1.58%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 375.30p -1.42%
Beazley (BEZ) 883.50p -1.12%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 265.20p -1.04%
SSE (SSE) 1,689.50p -1.03%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,086.00p -1.00%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 82.40p 14.44%
Harbour Energy (HBR) 161.20p 5.43%
SSP Group (SSPG) 156.40p 3.78%
Senior (SNR) 142.80p 3.78%
Clarkson (CKN) 3,095.00p 3.34%
Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 245.50p 3.15%
XPS Pensions Group (XPS) 394.50p 3.00%
Savills (SVS) 953.00p 2.47%
Playtech (PTEC) 792.00p 2.33%
JPMorgan Emerging Markets Inv Trust (JMG) 107.00p 2.10%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 67.80p -4.03%
TBC Bank Group (TBCG) 4,650.00p -3.93%
Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 345.40p -3.73%
Lion Finance Group (BGEO) 5,975.00p -3.71%
Close Brothers Group (CBG) 325.40p -3.67%
Spectris (SXS) 2,006.00p -3.65%
Sirius Real Estate Ltd. (SRE) 92.85p -3.08%
Hays (HAS) 70.90p -2.94%
Mobico Group (MCG) 30.94p -2.58%
Bridgepoint Group (Reg S) (BPT) 266.40p -2.49%
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