London open: Stocks edge up as BP, Shell gain; jobs data in focus

(Sharecast News) - London stocks edged higher in early trade on Tuesday as investors mulled the latest UK jobs data, with BP and Shell in the black as oil prices crept up after the US-Iran memorandum of understanding expired.

At 0850 BST, the FTSE 100 was 0.2% firmer at 10,736.73, while Brent crude was up 0.2% at $91.04 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate was 0.6% higher at $85.00.

The 60-day MoU between the US and Iran expired on Monday, with both sides rejecting any potential extension. In addition, Trump told Fox News on Monday that the US would bomb Oman if it gets in the way of ending the war.

The US and Oman have been negotiating separately with Tehran to reopen the vital Strait of Hormuz.

On home shores, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed the unemployment rate was unchanged in June, while earnings growth in the private sector slowed and vacancies were at their lowest in more than five years.

The unemployment rate unexpectedly remained at 4.9% in the three months to June, versus expectations for a dip to 4.8%. Meanwhile, vacancies fell by 6,000 to 707,000 - the lowest level since 2021.

Liz McKeown, director of economic statistics at the ONS, said: "Vacancies remain broadly flat, though a small fall in the latest period puts them at the lowest level in more than five years.

"The latest decrease was driven mainly by smaller businesses, which cite labour and operating costs as reasons for not hiring new staff or replacing leavers."

Growth in total earnings, including bonuses, fell to 4.1% in the three months to June from 4.3% in the three months to May. Economists had been expecting a decline to 4%. Pay growth excluding bonuses ticked up to 3.5% from 3.4%, versus expectations for it to be unchanged.

Regular wage growth in the private sector fell to a six-year low of 2.8% in the three months to June from 2.9% in the previous quarter, while public sector pay was up 6.1%, having risen 5.5% in the previous three months.

Liz McKeown said: "Regular wage growth has remained broadly stable in recent months. However, private sector pay growth has continued to ease, while public sector pay growth remains elevated due to the timing of the latest NHS pay awards."

Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said: "The UK unemployment rate was stable at 4.9% in the three months to June, although perhaps more concerningly the level of job vacancies fell to its lowest level in five years, reflecting corporate uncertainty towards any hiring sprees.

"The news further clouds the situation for the Bank of England, where the next hurdle will be tomorrow's inflation number, which is expected to peak at around 3% later this year given elevated energy prices. A stabilising labour market coupled with persistent inflation tilts the likelihood towards a tightening of the monetary screw, as could be seen elsewhere from the likes of the ECB, the Bank of Japan and potentially the Federal Reserve."

In equity markets, BP and Shell were among the top risers on the FTSE 100 as oil prices crept higher again.

Premier Inn owner Whitbread was boosted by an upgrade to 'market perform' from 'underperform' at Bernstein, which said it was "time to adopt a more constructive stance".

IT services provider Kainos surged to the top of the FTSE 250 as it said full-year revenue and adjusted pre-tax profit were to be "comfortably ahead" of current market expectations.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 10,736.73 0.15%

FTSE 250 (MCX) 24,683.43 -0.08%

techMARK (TASX) 6,146.55 -0.02%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Centrica (CNA) 159.00p 2.27%

BP (BP.) 530.50p 2.17%

Whitbread (WTB) 2,480.00p 1.93%

Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 387.10p 1.57%

Shell (SHEL) 3,379.50p 1.53%

Vodafone Group (VOD) 121.10p 1.17%

BT Group (BT.A) 201.20p 1.16%

Associated British Foods (ABF) 2,023.00p 1.00%

Prudential (PRU) 1,041.00p 0.97%

JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 91.02p 0.87%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Lion Finance Group (BGEO) 13,080.00p -1.50%

Land Securities Group (LAND) 695.00p -1.35%

Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 1,433.00p -1.21%

Weir (WEIR) 2,646.00p -0.97%

Halma (HLMA) 3,668.00p -0.92%

Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 1,548.20p -0.88%

Entain (ENT) 554.00p -0.79%

British Land Company (BLND) 428.20p -0.74%

London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) 8,426.00p -0.68%

Barclays (BARC) 510.90p -0.68%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Kainos Group (KNOS) 1,165.00p 18.46%

GB Group (GBG) 167.40p 3.58%

PPHE Hotel Group Ltd (PPH) 1,566.00p 3.57%

AEP Plantations (AEP) 185.40p 3.33%

Shawbrook Group (SHAW) 336.75p 2.98%

Ithaca Energy (ITH) 251.50p 2.82%

Harbour Energy (HBR) 255.20p 2.73%

GCP Infrastructure Investments Ltd (GCP) 84.00p 1.57%

Frasers Group (FRAS) 806.00p 1.45%

Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,326.50p 1.39%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Raspberry PI Holdings (RPI) 653.50p -3.97%

JPMorgan Japanese Inv Trust (JFJ) 836.00p -2.90%

JPMorgan Emerging Markets Growth & Income (JMGI) 164.00p -2.03%

Baillie Gifford Japan Trust (BGFD) 1,046.00p -1.87%

Templeton Emerging Markets Inv Trust (TEM) 315.50p -1.86%

Polar Capital Technology Trust (PCT) 673.00p -1.82%

Edinburgh Worldwide Inv Trust (EWI) 259.50p -1.70%

Renishaw (RSW) 5,190.00p -1.70%

Schroder Asia Pacific Fund (SDP) 827.00p -1.66%

Endeavour Mining (EDV) 4,125.00p -1.55%