(Sharecast News) - London stocks rose in early trade on Tuesday as investors mulled the latest UK jobs data and encouraging comments from US vice president JD Vance about the potential for a trade deal.
At 0830 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 0.4% at 8,170.15.
Vance said in an interview on Monday with UnHerd that there is a "good chance" the UK and the US can secure a trade deal.
"We're certainly working very hard with Keir Starmer's government," he said.
"The president really loves the United Kingdom. He loved the Queen. He admires and loves the King. It is a very important relationship. And he's a businessman and has a number of important business relationships in [Britain]. But I think it's much deeper than that.
"There's a real cultural affinity. And, of course, fundamentally, America is an Anglo country."
On the macro front, meanwhile, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed the unemployment rate was steady in February, while wage growth remained high.
The unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.4% in the three months to February.
The data also showed that growth in annual average weekly earnings excluding bonuses was 5.9%, slightly lower than consensus expectations for 6% growth. Growth in average earnings including bonuses was 5.6%, in line with expectations.
Liz McKeown, director of economic statistics at the ONS, said: "Regular pay growth remains strong having increased slightly in the latest period.
"Growth accelerated in the previous pay rises fully fed through to our headline figures, while pay in the private sector was little changed.
"The latest survey results estimate that the unemployment rate is unchanged on the previous three months, while separately the number of employees on payroll fell slightly over the same period."
Ashley Webb, UK economist at Capital Economics, said: "Overall, while wage growth remains too high, the growing downside risks to inflation and activity from higher US tariffs may mean the Bank of England starts to become less worried about the upside risks to inflation from pay growth and more worried about the downside risks to activity.
"The risk is that interest rates are cut a bit faster than the fall from 4.50% now to 4.00% this year that we expect."
In equity markets, Tate & Lyle rallied after saying it performed as expected in the fourth quarter and that its 2025 results will be in line with guidance.
FirstGroup was also in the black after it said that FY 2025 adjusted operating profit and adjusted earnings per share were set to be ahead of its previous expectations following a stronger financial performance in First Rail and an in-line performance at First Bus.
Discount retailer B&M European Value Retail racked up strong gains as it said adjusted operating profits should be above the mid-point of its guidance range for the year ended 29 March on the back of productivity gains and a pick-up in underlying sales growth in the fourth quarter.
Guidance for adjusted EBITDA was cut in February to 605m-625m, down from an earlier forecast of 620m to 650m.
In broker note action, Next was boosted by an upgrade to 'buy' at Goldman Sachs, while JD sports was higher after an upgrade to 'euqalweight' at Barclays.
Domino's Pizza was hit by a downgrade to 'underweight' at Barclays.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 8,170.15 0.44%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,075.30 0.51%
techMARK (TASX) 4,401.51 0.36%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Kingfisher (KGF) 263.50p 2.13%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,039.00p 1.86%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 107.90p 1.74%
M&G (MNG) 191.40p 1.73%
St James's Place (STJ) 878.40p 1.67%
Diploma (DPLM) 3,918.00p 1.61%
F&C Investment Trust (FCIT) 1,022.00p 1.59%
Beazley (BEZ) 918.00p 1.55%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 341.20p 1.55%
Entain (ENT) 552.40p 1.54%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Diageo (DGE) 2,065.00p -2.09%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 10,204.00p -1.12%
Smurfit Westrock (DI) (SWR) 3,134.00p -0.35%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 879.40p -0.18%
Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (DI) (CCEP) 6,690.00p -0.15%
Unilever (ULVR) 4,686.00p -0.13%
CRH (CDI) (CRH) 6,562.00p -0.06%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 770.50p -0.05%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) 11,070.00p -0.05%
Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 17,635.00p 0.00%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 68.35p 4.11%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 311.10p 3.98%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 312.80p 2.96%
Kainos Group (KNOS) 695.50p 2.81%
Close Brothers Group (CBG) 298.40p 2.54%
Tate & Lyle (TATE) 515.00p 2.28%
SSP Group (SSPG) 146.70p 1.87%
Indivior (INDV) 718.00p 1.84%
Carnival (CCL) 1,238.00p 1.81%
Rotork (ROR) 297.40p 1.71%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Burberry Group (BRBY) 661.20p -3.67%
Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 351.00p -3.15%
Pollen Street Group Limited (POLN) 672.00p -2.89%
SDCL Energy Efficiency Income Trust (SEIT) 44.80p -2.61%
Domino's Pizza Group (DOM) 267.80p -2.26%
Syncona Limited NPV (SYNC) 86.20p -1.93%
Foresight Solar Fund Limited (FSFL) 79.00p -1.62%
Computacenter (CCC) 2,242.00p -1.41%
Bluefield Solar Income Fund Limited (BSIF) 92.40p -0.96%
BlackRock World Mining Trust (BRWM) 455.50p -0.65%
66.03 (0.80%)
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