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Equity markets were muted on Friday after racking up solid gains in the earlier part of the week, with investors awaiting the all-important US monthly non-farm payroll report due out this afternoon.
Last night, US markets hit new highs on growing optimism after a fall in weekly unemployment claims and a record high reading on the services PMI as spending shifted from goods to services.
Investment bank Goldman Sachs raised its year-end target for the S&P 500 index based on a combination of higher earnings and lower than expected interest rates.
Sterling eased to $1.3909 ahead of the US jobs data, while oil prices rose with Brent crude futures up 1.2% to $71.25 per barrel.
At midday the FTSE 100 index was flat at 7,126.
COMPANY NEWS
The Fortress-led private equity consortium raised its takeover bid for Morrisons to 270p per share plus a 2p special dividend from 252p. Rival CD&R has a deadline of 5pm on Monday 9 August to make a firm offer, suggesting the bidding war for the UK supermarket is far from over.
Financial markets and information group London Stock Exchange posted a 4.6% increase in first half income and an 18.6% increase in average earnings per share, including the contribution from recently acquired Refinitiv.
Synergies from the acquisition are now expected to be £125 million for the full year, up from a previous estimate of £88 million. The shares topped the FTSE 100 leader board, gaining 4.1% to £77.74.
Public services outsourcing firm Capita swung to a first half pre-tax profit of £45.3 million compared with a loss of £11.1 million last year thanks to a recovery in revenues and ongoing cost efficiencies.
New contract wins in the half came to £2.58 billion, 70% higher than a year ago, with £769 million of revenues due to come in this year, an increase of 13%. The shares gained 1.8% to 36.62p.
Drug maker Hikma Pharmaceuticals reported a 7% increase in first half revenues and an 18% increase in earnings to $223 million thanks to a strong performance in generic drugs and a resilient performance from its injectables division.
The firm raised its full year guidance for generic product revenues to between $810 million and $830 million thanks to higher sales of new products. The shares fell 5.7% to £24.92.
The Renewable Infrastructure Group posted a 0.9% fall in first half net asset value per share to 114.3p compared with last December, sending its stock down 0.2% to 133.92p.
The firm said higher power prices and active portfolio management had helped offset the impact of lower levels of wind power and changes in its tax regime.
Shares in recently listed cyber-security firm Darktrace dropped 6.8% to 638.29p after a group of major shareholders sold 23.15 million shares at 620p, close to a 10% discount to last night's closing price.
The shares were floated on 30 April at 250p per share, so the placing banks agreed to waive the sellers' lock-up agreements to allow them to exit early.