Investors tread water ahead of US jobs data

Anticipation of key US jobs data this afternoon, which is expected to show a fall of 5,000 to 10,000 jobs, kept the FTSE 100 in the doldrums this morning.

David Buik of BGC Partners said: ‘A figure of anything less than +100-150k suggests that recovery is very brittle and therefore further stimulus is a pre-requisite.’ 

The further quantitative easing that Buik refers to could boost stock markets. But John Higgins, senior market economist at Capital Economics, said: ‘We are skeptical that the rally in equity markets will last in those countries where the policy is being deliberated. But for many emerging equity markets, additional QE would probably contribute to further strong gains.'

Markets were subdued in trading last night except in China which was catching up after a public holiday. China was also boosted by news that Moody's Investors Service is reviewing its government bond rating for a possible upgrade.

Meetings of the world bank, the G7 and the IMF are also likely to dampen interest in individual corporate events today.

But analyst recommendation changes dominated price moves on the FTSE 100 this morning with the index down 0.25%, a fall of 13 points to 5648.

The biggest fallers were silver miner Fresnillo, down 3% at £12.45. Analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch cut the firms rating to ‘underperform’.

Sage Group shares were down 2.7% at £2.74. The accountancy software firm was downgraded by UBS analysts to ‘sell’ from ‘neutral’.

Barclays was down 2.3% at £2.97. According to the Daily Telegraph, Sheikh Mansour bin Sayed al-Nahyan, a member of Abu Dhabi's royal family, has effectively sold his £140 million remaining stake in Barclays.

The biggest gainer was BHP Billiton, up 1% at £21.43. Yesterday the head of Potash Corp said that its $130-a-share hostile bid was a 'non-starter'.

The pound was worth $1.58 against the dollar and €1.14 against the Euro. Gold was selling at $1334 per ounce and oil stood at $84 per barrel.