London pre-open: Stocks seen muted ahead of payrolls

(Sharecast News) - London stocks were set for a muted open on Friday as investors eyed the latest US non-farm payrolls report and kept an eye on developments in the Middle East.

The FTSE 100 was called to open just three points higher.

The non-farm payrolls report, average earnings and unemployment rate for May are all due at 1330 BST.

Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, said the report is expected to show that US payrolls grew by 85,000, while the unemployment rate remained steady at 4.3%. Average hourly earnings growth is expected to have risen by 0.3% on the month.

"Leading up to this meeting, the Fed Fund Futures market has priced out the chance of a rate cut from the Fed this year," Brooks noted. "There is now a near 40% chance of a rate hike by year end. We expect financial markets to be extremely sensitive to today's data. This will be the first NFP report where Kevin Warsh is chair of the Federal Reserve.

"Ahead of this report, financial markets are already reading US economic data through a hawkish lens: the economy is growing and jobs are plentiful. Due to this, the bigger risk to upside stock market momentum is a stronger than expected reading, rather than a weaker one."

On home shores, the latest data from Halifax showed that house prices unexpectedly declined in May.

House prices fell 0.1% on the month, matching April's fall but missing expectations for an increase of 0.1%.

On the year, house prices were up 0.5% in May following a 0.4% rise the month before, but missing expectations for a 1% jump.

Amanda Bryden, head of mortgages at Halifax, said: "Property price trends continue to reflect the uncertainty linked to developments in the Middle East. Despite recent cuts to mortgage rates, higher inflation expectations have kept borrowing costs above the level seen at the start of the year, continuing to stretch affordability for many buyers and temper demand.

"Even so, overall activity has held up well, reflecting the underlying resilience of the UK housing market. Latest industry figures show transaction levels remain relatively stable, suggesting buyers and sellers are still moving.

"Among firsttime buyers, annual growth is more subdued at +0.3%. While getting onto the property ladder remains a big challenge, there has been increasing support from lenders, including more flexible affordability checks and a growing range of lowdeposit options.

"Looking ahead, borrowing costs and consumer confidence are likely to continue shaping activity in the coming months, with house prices expected to be broadly stable while interest rates stay elevated. The housing market remains closely tied to wider global developments, with a return to sustained house price growth dependent on an improvement in the inflation outlook and a fall in mortgage costs."

In corporate news, Bodycote said Apollo Management had pulled out of its proposed �1.5bn offer for the UK thermal processing company.

"The board of Bodycote has strong confidence in Bodycote's potential and its strategy to create a high-performing, resilient business with attractive growth prospects," the company said.

Technology firm Raspberry Pi said strong firsthalf profitability was now expected to be "materially ahead" of last year, prompting an upgrade to its full-year outlook.

Raspberry Pi said trading in the six months ending 30 June has been strong so far, with unit shipments set to exceed 4.0m and adjusted underlying earnings seen at no less than $38m. The FTSE 250 firm said its performance was supported by continued growth in volumes, a favourable product mix and the use of lowdensity DRAM inventory built up during FY25.