7th Nov 2014 10:31
LONDON (Alliance News) - UK shares are outperforming the rest of Europe Friday morning ahead of the key US nonfarm payrolls report in the afternoon, with some strong individual stock performances coming on the back of broker upgrades.
At mid-morning, the FTSE 100 is outperforming, trading up 0.8% at 6,601.13, the FTSE 250 is up 0.4% at 15,571.11, and the AIM All-Share is up 0.1% at 722.12.
In Europe, the CAC 40 is down 0.1%, while the DAX 30 is up 0.2%.
US investment bank Goldman Sachs has been busy Friday, issuing changes to its ratings on a string of London listed stocks. Experian, up 3.3%, and Intertek Group, up 2.2% are amongst the blue-chip gainers, with both companies benefiting from positive ratings.
Goldman analysts upgraded information services company Experian to Neutral from Sell, with a price target hike to 1,078.00 pence from 985.00p. Goldman Sachs also upgraded quality-testing company Intertek to Buy from Neutral, with a price target increase to 3,340.00p from 3,240p. Intertek trades at 2,747.00p, while Experian trades at 1,032.00p.
Supermarkets also are carrying on their progress from the last two days, with Tesco, up 2.7%, and J Sainsbury, up 2.3%, the notable gainers. In addition, miners are performing strongly, with the FTSE 350 mining sector index gaining 2.6%, making it the best performing sector index.
Admiral Group is one of the few FTSE 100 losers, losing 1.7% of its share value. The company reported a 3% fall in third-quarter revenue, hit by a drop in its UK car insurance business, though its expectations for that main profit driver remain on track for the current financial year, thanks to "positive claims development" on its back years, suggesting the group is optimistic on releasing reserves no longer required to cover claims losses.
In the FTSE 250, Rentokil Initial is one of the worst performers, with its shares declining 3.6%. The company, which provides pest control to facilities management services, said the strength of sterling was having a major impact on its reported results, with pretax profit and revenue for the group held back by the effect of currency translation in the third quarter. Pretax profit for the group in the three months to the end of September was GBP48.8 million, up 16.7% on a reported basis but up 27% in constant currencies.
The day's only domestic data showed the UK's visible trade deficit widened by more than expected in September, according to data from the Office for National Statistics. The visible trade gap increased to GBP9.8 billion from GBP9 billion in August. The deficit was forecast to rise more moderately to GBP9.5 billion.
The main event of the Friday is still to come. US nonfarm payrolls for October is to be released at 1330 GMT, with consensus indicating a 231,000 rise. Simultaneously released will be US wage and unemployment rate data for October. In addition, US Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen will be speaking about policy since the onset of the financial crisis at the International Symposium of the Banque de France, in Paris.
Futures indicate Wall Street for a higher opening, with the DJIA and the S&P 500, both pointed up 0.2% and the Nasdaq Composite indicated up 0.3%.
By Neil Thakrar; [email protected]
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