London midday: Stocks tank as eyes turn to US jobs data

5th Apr 2013 11:28

Stocks across Europe were under heavy selling pressure on Friday morning as traders refrained from building positions ahead of the all-important employment report due out Stateside this afternoon."We're seeing a lot of caution in the markets on Friday, ahead of what is expected to be a disappointing US report," said Market Analyst Craig Erlam from Alpari.Meanwhile, reports a new bird flu virus in China hammered stocks in the travel and leisure sector, providing an extra drag on sentiment early on.All eyes on non-farm payrollsThe market reaction to the non-farm payrolls figure will be interesting to see given the somewhat disappointing labour-market data in recent days, after both the ADP employment report and jobless claims figures missed forecasts.Consensus estimates are for a 199,000 increase in non-farm payrolls in March, well below the 236,000 surge in February. Meanwhile, the jobless rate is expected to stay at 7.7% following an unexpected drop the month before.If the official figure today misses forecasts, markets could react positively given increased hopes that the Federal Reserve will maintain the rate of its quantitative easing (QE) programme. Alternatively, if we see another strong beat today - as was the case last month - it could throw weight behind the argument by many US policymakers that QE will need to be scaled back.However, Erlam said: "That being said, even if we do see another strong NFP figure today, I don't envisage the Fed scaling back its $85bn of [monthly] asset purchases in the coming months as the recovery is still extremely fragile."Travel stocks drop on avian flu fearsAirline peers easyJet and IAG and travel operator TUI Travel were registering sharp falls today as fears were raised that a bird flu outbreak in China would stifle air travel demand. Shares in Chinese airlines declined the most in nearly four years following news six people died of the H7N9 bird flu virus. Budget airline easyJet was shrugging off an upgrade by Investec from 'hold' to 'buy' after a seemingly in-line trading update this morning.High Street giant Next was a heavy faller after Credit Suisse downgraded its rating on the stock from 'outperform' to 'neutral', after a 50% jump in the share price in the last year. The broker said that some of the 2013/2014 drivers are "not quite as significant as hoped".Telecoms firm BT Group was also suffering the effects of a downgrade by Morgan Stanley to 'equal weight'.AstraZeneca was flat despite unveiling positive results from a study of fostamatinib, an oral drug being developed for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.FTSE 100 - RisersEurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 243.30p +3.44%BAE Systems (BA.) 386.30p +0.89%National Grid (NG.) 784.00p +0.84%Centrica (CNA) 374.30p +0.75%SSE (SSE) 1,517.00p +0.60%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,180.00p +0.39%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,292.00p +0.39%Aviva (AV.) 295.10p +0.31%RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 109.60p +0.27%ARM Holdings (ARM) 881.00p +0.17%FTSE 100 - FallerseasyJet (EZJ) 1,030.00p -6.11%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 237.00p -6.06%TUI Travel (TT.) 301.10p -3.86%Wolseley (WOS) 3,043.00p -3.61%Amec (AMEC) 1,060.00p -3.46%Evraz (EVR) 193.30p -3.45%ITV (ITV) 120.70p -3.44%Xstrata (XTA) 1,017.00p -3.23%BT Group (BT.A) 265.30p -3.03%Glencore International (GLEN) 338.20p -3.01%FTSE 250 - RisersCentamin (DI) (CEY) 45.82p +9.23%NMC Health (NMC) 318.60p +3.17%Barr (A.G.) (BAG) 545.00p +1.87%Drax Group (DRX) 624.00p +1.55%BH Macro Ltd. EUR Shares (BHME) € 20.44 +1.39%Fidessa Group (FDSA) 1,867.00p +1.19%Heritage Oil (HOIL) 166.90p +1.15%Kenmare Resources (KMR) 27.00p +1.12%Domino Printing Sciences (DNO) 645.50p +0.86%Morgan Advance Materials (MGAM) 284.90p +0.85%FTSE 250 - FallersLadbrokes (LAD) 207.20p -7.09%Tullett Prebon (TLPR) 250.50p -5.76%International Personal Finance (IPF) 427.10p -5.09%Micro Focus International (MCRO) 648.00p -4.99%Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 115.40p -4.94%Ashtead Group (AHT) 579.50p -4.53%Howden Joinery Group (HWDN) 223.70p -4.48%888 Holdings (888) 163.50p -4.16%Bwin.party Digital Entertainment (BPTY) 135.80p -4.16%Informa (INF) 496.30p -4.00%BC