By Pranav Kashyap
(Reuters) -British equities edged lower on Friday as precious metal miners added to their losses, while investors looked ahead to a key U.S. jobs report due later in the day.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 slipped 0.3% and was set to mark a fourth weekly loss, a streak last seen more than three years ago. The mid-cap FTSE 250 was down 0.3%, and headed towards a second straight weekly loss.
“After a week of steady recovery from Monday’s sell-off, the FTSE 100 returned to the back foot on Friday, dragged lower by retail and banking stocks,” AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould said.
The U.S. nonfarm payrolls data, due at 1230 GMT, will test the narrative of easing labour market conditions. Any upside surprise could deliver a nasty shock to markets.
Following rate cuts by the European Central Bank and the Bank of Canada earlier this week, traders expecting that the U.S. Federal Reserve might initiate cuts as soon as September, making the payrolls data an crucial input in the central bank’s decision making.
“The loosening cycle in the US and the UK is on hold for the time being, but if this is what’s going to happen in the future with rates, clearly institutional funds are going to be on a bid for yields in government bonds,” Charlie Bird, FX trader at Verto, said.
Traders are now pricing in almost a 70% chance of a September rate cut by the U.S. Fed, up from 45% last week.
Precious metal miners lost 1.3% as gold prices remained unchanged. [GOL/]
Among individual stocks, Redcentric fell 3.9% after Wiit said it had no plans to make a takeover offer for the IT services group.
C&C Group was the top loser on the mid-cap index, with a 7.6% drop after the Irish drinks producer said Group CEO Patrick McMahon will step down after accounting errors in the last three years when he was CFO.
(Reporting by Pranav Kashyap in Bengaluru; Editing by Varun H K and Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)
