UK employment humming along nicely

In mid-morning trading, the FTSE 100 is 17 points lower, while sterling rallies after yet more good UK figures.

• UK wage growth healthy

• Travis Perkins shares collapse

• Inventory figures & earnings point to busy US session

UK unemployment data has helped the pound to move steadily higher this morning, as sterling buyers continue to creep out from the post-flash crash shelters. The resilience of UK economic data continues to surprise, and means that very real questions now hover over the Bank of England. With sterling-weakness tailwinds apparently driving Britain forward, the bar for a BoE rate cut seems to be getting higher every day. Stock markets in the UK and Europe are weaker this morning, indicating that bullish sentiment remains brittle, but the steady stream of good earnings figures from the US should help maintain forward momentum across markets. Bottom of the FTSE 100 this morning is building firm Travis Perkins, whose dismal performance sits at odds with the general flow of news from housebuilding and the construction sector, while  Reckitt Benckiser has had some of the shine wiped off thanks to difficult times in emerging markets. With the pound now seemingly in for some better days, some of the premium in international firms like Reckitt could be trimmed from the share price.

Another action-packed day of US earnings awaits this afternoon, with the tone among companies reporting thus far still tending towards the optimistic end of things. After crude oil’s choppy performance over the past week, the afternoon’s EIA inventory figures will be closely-watched for signs of ongoing improvement in demand. Ahead of the open, we expect the Dow to start at 18,147, down 14 points from last night’s close.