London open: FTSE steady ahead of payrolls report
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Friday 04 Sep 2026
(Sharecast News) - London stocks were steady in early trade on Friday ahead of the release of the latest US non-farm payrolls report.
At 0835 BST, the FTSE 100 was flat at 10,833.95, while Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate were up 0.4% at $95.89 and $91.66 a barrel, respectively.
All eyes were on the non-farm payrolls report for August, along with the unemployment rate and average earnings, which are due at 1330 BST. Consensus expectations are for payrolls to have increased by 55,000 last month, while the unemployment rate is expected to have remained at 4.1%.
Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said: "The usual caveats will then apply - a much stronger than expected number would increase the likelihood of an interest rate hike this month, whereas a weak reading could potentially trigger a market rally alongside a fall in Treasury yields.
"However, barring any major surprises, the importance of the non-farms will be eclipsed by the CPI reading next Friday for this month at least. That release will also mark the last major report before the Fed's interest rate decision and, given that the Fed is more inclined towards the inflation rather than employment side of its dual mandate, it is likely to be the pivotal factor.
"Governor Waller added in his remarks that he would be inclined to support holding rates steady if inflation data was in line with estimates, which sent yields marginally lower. It also reduced market estimates from a 63% likelihood of a rise the previous day to a toss of the coin 50% number."
On home shores, figures from the British Retail Consortium and Sensormatic showed that retail footfall improved in August but remained below year-earlier levels.
Total UK footfall fell 1.7% year-on-year over the four weeks to 29 August, an improvement on July's 2.1% decline and an increase month-on-month.
High street footfall was down 3.1%, compared with a 3.8% fall a month earlier, while shopping centre visits declined 0.5%, improving from a 1.4% drop in July.
Retail parks continued to outperform, with footfall rising 1.0% year-on-year, although that was slightly weaker than July's 1.2% increase.
By country, footfall declined 2.1% in England, 1.3% in Wales and 0.1% in Scotland, while Northern Ireland recorded a 2.8% increase.
BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said cooler weather had helped bring shoppers back following a particularly hot July, as consumers stocked up on essentials and back-to-school items.
"Footfall improved on the previous month, though still down on last year," she said. "Retail parks were the standout performers but the overall picture shows high streets face an uphill battle."
Dickinson called for government action ahead of the Autumn Budget, arguing that lower business rates and energy costs would help retailers contain prices and support investment. Sensormatic's Andy Sumpter said the figures suggested the pace of decline may be starting to ease, but cautioned that retailers still faced pressure from rising inflation and constrained household spending.
There was a dearth of corporate news on Friday, but Vodafone rallied after an upgrade to 'buy' from 'sell' at Goldman Sachs.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 10,833.95 0.02%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 24,571.66 0.31%
techMARK (TASX) 6,110.48 0.56%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Computacenter (CCC) 5,550.00p 3.26%
Informa (INF) 920.40p 1.59%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 1,006.50p 1.36%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 160.75p 1.35%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 506.20p 1.30%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 124.35p 1.26%
Halma (HLMA) 3,636.00p 1.23%
Kingfisher (KGF) 301.00p 1.21%
Whitbread (WTB) 2,403.00p 1.18%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,154.00p 1.01%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Experian (EXPN) 2,849.00p -3.42%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 4,103.00p -1.23%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 4,516.00p -1.18%
Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (DI) (CCEP) 7,960.00p -1.18%
Anglo American (AAL) 4,135.00p -0.91%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) 8,820.00p -0.88%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 7,559.00p -0.68%
St James's Place (STJ) 1,150.00p -0.65%
Glencore (GLEN) 602.80p -0.64%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 2,501.00p -0.64%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Renishaw (RSW) 5,175.00p 6.15%
XPS Pensions Group (XPS) 328.50p 4.78%
Sirius Real Estate Ltd. (SRE) 98.85p 4.60%
Diversified Energy Company (DI) (DEC) 1,168.00p 3.00%
AO World (AO.) 94.50p 2.72%
Trustpilot Group (TRST) 292.60p 2.24%
Halfords Group (HFD) 267.00p 2.10%
Softcat (SCT) 2,090.00p 2.05%
Seraphim Space Investment Trust (SSIT) 183.60p 2.00%
Ceres Power Holdings (CWR) 412.80p 1.98%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) 162.40p -6.29%
Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 2.34p -4.88%
FirstGroup (FGP) 170.00p -4.44%
Victrex plc (VCT) 830.00p -1.54%
Safestore Holdings (SAFE) 552.50p -1.42%
SDCL Efficiency Income Trust (SEIT) 36.00p -1.37%
HGCapital Trust (HGT) 408.50p -1.21%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 665.00p -1.04%
Helios Towers (HTWS) 200.60p -0.99%
Schroder Oriental Income Fund Ltd. (SOI) 453.00p -0.88%
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