Leading shares are heading higher amid a flurry of service sector data and ahead of the US non farm payroll numbers.
Commodity companies are among the leading risers as oil holds firm around $50 a barrel despite Opec deciding not to implement output cuts. BP is 8p better at 361.1p, as it agreed to pay $175m to settle claims by US investors relating to the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, removing the last major legal threat from the disaster.
Royal Dutch Shell B shares have risen 30.5p to £16.96, while among the mining shares Glencore is up 2.45p at 131p and BHP Billiton is 12.7p better at 818.3p.
Overall the FTSE 100 is up 55.10 points at 6240.71. Tony Cross, market analyst at Trustnet Direct, said:
London’s blue chip index is following leads set by both the US and Asia with some decent gains coming through at the open, although it’s difficult to see them as being all that convincing – at least for now. The big economic release today is the US non-farm payrolls and this could prove somewhat instrumental in determining just how we finish the week. There’s a nagging doubt that the Federal Reserve will be in a position to hike interest rates this month and any notable shortfall in today’s employment stats would have the potential to kick this idea very much into the long grass.
The vast majority of equities in London are finding some degree of positive territory this morning – rising oil prices and this doubt over US rate hikes is helping commodity stocks towards the top of the board.
But Marks & Spencer has fallen 1.3p to 355.3p as analysts at JP Morgan moved from neutral to underweight and slashed their price target from 550p to 307p. The bank cited concerns about growing competition, and cut 2017 pretax profit estimates by 14%.
Among the mid-caps PZ Cussons has lost 14p to 326.5p as Canaccord Genuity cut its recommendation on the trading and personal care company from buy to hold. It said:
Cussons’ shares have risen 37% since the interim results announcement on 26 January. Helped by a 57% increase in the oil price over the same period (given the company’s Nigerian exposure), the shares have outperformed the FTSE 250 index by 31% in the process. We think risk from the scheduled full year trading update on 9 June is no better than equally weighted (with April’s update stating that performance “overall...has been in line with expectations”), and would take profits in the light of the rerating and the lack of a near term catalyst.
