FTSE 100 expected to open lower ahead of US non-farm payrolls

7.0am: FTSE 100 seen lower ahead of non-farm payrolls

FTSE 100 expected to open lower on Friday ahead of US non-farm payrolls later in the day which will provide further evidence as to the state of the health of the US economy.

Spread betting companies are calling London’s blue-chip index down by around 13 points.

Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank said “a fairly strong non-farm payroll print today, around or slightly above the 200,000 penciled in by analysts, should boost risk appetite.”

However she added: “A soft figure, like Wednesday’s ADP (NASDAQ:ADP) report, could increase recession odds and keep equities under negative pressure.”

“Then, there is a slim possibility that we will see a very strong figure, at 300,000 or above. In that case, we shall see the Fed hawks take the upper hand again, and send equity valuations lower before the weekly closing bell.”

Consensus forecasts currently point to a 208,000 increase following a stronger-than-expected rise of 261,000 in October.

Average hourly earnings are expected to rise 0.3% month-on-month giving an annual increase of 4.6%.

The unemployment rate is expected to remain unchanged at 3.7%.