London pre-open: Stocks seen lower as Trump threatens $100bn more in China tariffs; payrolls eyed
London stocks were set to drop at the open on Friday after US President Donald Trump said he would slap $100bn more tariffs on China.
The FTSE 100 was called to open down 39 points at 7,160.
After the close of US markets on Thursday, Trump said in a statement that the further tariffs were being considered "in light of China's unfair retaliation".
London Capital Group analyst Jasper Lawler said Trump's announcement ended any hopes of an amicable conclusion to the escalating trade tensions between the US and China.
"Thursday’s impressive rally is under threat as Trump retaliates to China’s tit for tat tariffs and its willing to escalate its trade problems with Trump to the World Trade Organisation, in the clearest sign yet that the world’s two largest economies remain teetering on the brink of a trade war..
"The message from the White House has been mixed at best this week, with White House advisor Larry Kudlow and other officials playing down any trade war fears, which worked to boost the markets. However, much of the good work by Kudlow & Co. was undone by Trump on Thursday evening, who is showing an increasingly hard-line approach."
Investors will also be eyeing the release of the latest US non-farm payrolls report, unemployment rate and average hourly earnings at 1330 BST. Analysts are expecting the March payrolls to come in at around 190,000, which would keep the six-month average around 186,000. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate is expected to tick down to 4.0% from 4.1% and average hourly earnings are seen rising 2.7% year-on-year, representing a modest pick-up from February’s 2.6%.
In corporate news, LondonMetric Property has sold one of its oldest regional warehouses and snapped up five 'urban' logistics warehouses for £25.6m. The five newcomers have a blended net income yield of 5.0% which rises to 5.6% over the next five years.
Big Yellow Group updated the market on recent developments on Friday, confirming it has been granted planning consent for a new 72,000 square foot store in Camberwell, London. The FTSE 250 company also announced the acquisition of a site in Uxbridge for a new 55,000 square foot store, subject to planning permission. It described Uxbridge as an “affluent” suburb in West London, with a relatively limited supply of self storage, and a catchment area which Big Yellow did not currently service.
Passenger numbers continued to grow in line with the board’s forecasts at easyJet in March, with a total of 6.56 million people choosing to fly with the airline during the month - an increase of 3.4% year-on-year. The FTSE 100 low-cost carrier’s load factor during the month was 93.4%, which was 0.7 percentage points higher than the same time last year. Its growth came despite more than 1,000 weather-related cancellations, and at least 200 more cancellations related to strikes in France and Italy.