London pre-open: Markets await US employment data

5th Apr 2013 07:35

City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open up three points from yesterday's close of 6,344, as investors await employment data from the US. The closely-watched US employment report for March will be released today, and 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. Other announcements due out today are the US balance of trade, US consumer credit, German PMI construction data, and EU retail sales. In the UK, data is due out on new car registrations. In company news, budget airline easyJet has posted revenue per seat growth of around 8.5% for the half year ended March 31st, but said the bad weather resulted in higher than anticipated level of cancellations, meaning capacity growth was marginally lower than guidance at 3.3%. Overall, results for the period were in line with expectations. Passenger numbers for March showed a 5.3% increase, while the load factor rose from 88.8% to 90.5% year-on-year. AstraZeneca has announced top-line results of OSKIRA-1, a phase III study to assess the efficacy and safety of fostamatinib in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. The group said: "These top-line results provide important information on the efficacy and safety of fostamatinib and demonstrate that the compound has an effect on the signs and symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis. We will await the results of the remaining Phase III studies, OSKIRA-2 and OSKIRA-3, to further evaluate and characterise the profile of fostamatinib as a potential treatment for rheumatoid arthritis."Ireland-based oil and gas group Providence Resources and AIM-listed partner Lansdowne have received an audit of their joint-owned Barryroe oil field which found 2C recoverable resources of 346m barrels of oil equivalents.NR