FTSE 100 Steady as Investors Remain Cautious: Sainsbury, Haleon Shares Fall

The FTSE 100 traded flat on Friday morning as investors remained cautious ahead of key economic data, while European markets edged lower. Germany’s DAX slipped 0.1% and France’s CAC 40 fell 0.2%.

Energy markets continued to attract attention as oil prices extended recent gains amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, adding to uncertainty across global financial markets.

Among the top performers in London, IMI shares climbed more than 3% after the engineering group reported stronger results for the year ended December 31, 2025.

Revenue rose 4% year-on-year to £2.304 billion, while operating profit increased 6% to £460 million. The company also recorded an adjusted operating margin of 20.0%, representing a 30-basis-point improvement from the previous year.

AutoTrader and Rightmove also moved higher, gaining 2.5% and 2.2%, respectively.

On the downside, Persimmon and Airtel Africa were among the weakest performers in the blue-chip index, each falling around 1.5%. J Sainsbury shares also slipped about 1.2%, placing the supermarket group among the day’s notable laggards.

Elsewhere, Alliance Witan reported its annual results for 2025, marking its 59th consecutive year of dividend increases.

Investors are also looking ahead to the latest U.S. labour market report due later in the day. Economists expect the February non-farm payrolls figure to show an increase of roughly 60,000 jobs.

Separately, economists at Peel Hunt revised their outlook for the UK economy, trimming their 2026 GDP growth forecast to 1.1% while lifting projections for inflation.