Friday, September 1: the main benchmarks across Europe opened higher, following gains on Wall Street and ahead of the latest US jobs report, with the FTSE 100 up 0.20% at the open. Leading the charge higher on the FTSE 100 were miners, who were still buoyed by bullish Chinese manufacturing data.
Indivior plummeted in early trade this morning(-35.18%), rendering it the worst performer in the FTSE 250. The negative price action came to the fore as the pharmaceutical company revealed it was subject to a US court decision that ruled that generic competitors to its core Suboxone Film product from Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd does not infringe patients. Indivior’s guidance assumed no generic launch, but given this new ruling, the risk to indivior’s pipeline and therefore guidance has “significantly increased”.
Data in the afternoon provided further evidence of a slowdown in the number of jobs added by the US economy. Nonfarm payrolls rose by a seasonally adjusted 156,000 in August from the prior month, prompting a rise in the unemployment rate to 4.4% from 4.3%, according to Labor Department figures. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected 179,000 new jobs and a 4.3% unemployment rate last month. Moreover, job growth in the two month prior has been revised lower by a net 41,000 for both July and June to 179,000 and 210,000 respectively. Taking into account these revisions, employment growth this year has been slightly slower than last year’s pace. There was an immediate reaction in the FX markets as GBP leapt against the dollar to $1.299, before falling back later in the afternoon.
UK manufacturing PMI data released this morning was indicative of a further expansion, with the figure coming in at 56.9 ahead of the 55.0 forecast, building on a July figure of 55.3. However, reaction in currency markets was muted.
Across Europe, indices were up at the close with the FTSE 100 +0.11%, the DAX 30 +0.72% and the CAC 40 +0.74%.