Hot Features
Premium
Level up your trading with our powerful tools and real-time insights all in one place.
London stocks on the FTSE 100 rose in early trade on Tuesday, recovering from whopping losses in the previous session, as investors mulled the latest developments in the Trump trade war.
At 0830 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 1.2% at 7,796.42, having closed down 4.4% on Monday as the Trump tariff selloff continued.
The early gains came despite escalating tensions between the US and China, after the latter said it would “fight to the end” as Washington threatened an additional 50% tariff if Beijing went ahead with retaliatory measures of its own against American imports.
US President Donald Trump made the threat late on Monday, a move described as “a mistake on top of a mistake, which once again exposes the US’s blackmailing nature”, Agence France-Presse quoted a Commerce Ministry spokesperson as saying on Tuesday.
“China will never accept this. If the US insists on going its own way, China will fight it to the end. If the US escalates its tariff measures, China will resolutely take countermeasures to safeguard its own rights and interests.”
Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “Investors are waking up to a positive sight for once, with markets opening higher across a broad range of European indices and the FTSE 100 up 0.9% at the open.
“However, this should hardly be seen as the end of the trouble, especially with President Trump showing no signs of easing his stance on perceived trade imbalances, having doubled down on China.
“Still, there is a glimmer of hope, as Japanese markets are up nearly 6% following news that trade talks will begin in a few days. The sooner deals are reached, the quicker companies and investors can gain some clarity on the lay of the land.”
In equity markets, BA and Iberia owner IAG flew to the top of the FTSE 100, closely followed by engine maker Rolls-Royce.
Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust, which is heavily- exposed to the US tech sector, was also a high riser.
Building materials group CRH – which has a large exposure to the US market – advanced.
Hilton Foods was in focus as it said it was on track to deliver 2025 earnings in line with guidance after a sharp jump in profits last year, driven by its core retail meat business which outperformed total market growth in every region.
The company posted a 25% rise in pre-tax earnings to £61m and hiked its dividend 7.8% to 34.5p.
Elsewhere, Howden Joinery announced that its chief financial officer was set to step down and be replaced by Coats Group‘s Jackie Callaway. Paul Hayes, 58, will retire as finance chief and from the board at the end of May, following five years in the role.
Recruiter Hays jumped after an upgrade to ‘equalweight’ at Morgan Stanley. The bank previously had an ‘underweight’ rating on the shares as it saw risk from Hays’ large exposure to Germany combined with a weaker balance sheet and higher likelihood of a dividend cut.
“While these risks remain, we think they are now better reflected in the valuation, and our price target implies limited further downside,” it said. “We therefore neutralise our rating.”
Top 10 FTSE 100 Risers
| Sponsored by Plus500 |
|
| # | Name | Change Pct | Change | Cur Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
Bae Systems Plc | +5.54% | +83.00 | 1,580.50 |
| 2 |  |
International Consolidated Airlines Group S.a. | +5.48% | +12.30 | 236.70 |
| 3 |  |
Rolls-royce | +5.47% | +34.80 | 670.60 |
| 4 |  |
Carnival Plc | +5.47% | +62.00 | 1,196.00 |
| 5 |  |
Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust Plc | +4.71% | +38.40 | 853.60 |
| 6 |  |
Flutter Entertainment Plc | +4.42% | +715.00 | 16,875.00 |
| 7 |  |
Wise Plc | +4.07% | +35.50 | 908.00 |
| 8 |  |
South32 Limited | +4.00% | +4.80 | 124.80 |
| 9 |  |
Legal & General Group Plc | +3.95% | +8.50 | 223.70 |
| 10 |  |
Compass Group Plc | +3.66% | +86.00 | 2,436.00 |
Top 10 FTSE 100 Fallers
| Sponsored by Plus500 |
|
| # | Name | Change Pct | Change | Cur Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
Bt Group Plc | -2.78% | -4.35 | 151.85 |
| 2 |  |
Bp 8%pf | -1.43% | -2.00 | 138.00 |
| 3 |  |
Ck Infrastructure Holdings Limited | -0.82% | -4.00 | 481.00 |
| 4 |  |
Standard Chartered Plc | -0.47% | -4.40 | 932.80 |
| 5 |  |
Prudential Plc | -0.34% | -2.40 | 712.20 |
| 6 |  |
Hsbc Holdings Plc | -0.28% | -2.10 | 735.70 |
| 7 |  |
Vodafone Group Plc | -0.06% | -0.04 | 65.18 |
| 8 |  |
Lloyds Grp Dr A | -0.00% | -0.00 | 108.00 |
| 9 |  |
Ricoh Co Ltd | -0.00% | -0.00 | 981.88 |
| 10 |  |
Lloyds Grp Dr A | -0.00% | -0.00 | 109.50 |
US close: Stocks fall after volatile session as tariff chaos continues
Stocks finished mostly lower on Monday after another volatile day across global financial markets, as investors continued to scale back risk appetite and react to the latest gloomy economic predictions amid an escalating trade war.
The Dow finished 0.9% lower at 37,965.60 and the S&P 500 fell 0.2% to 5,062.25, with both indices hitting their lowest marks since late-April 2024.
The Nasdaq Composite, however, edged 0.1% higher to 15,603.26, as the selling pressure eased after an 11% sell-off since Donald Trump’s sweeping trade tariffs were unveiled last Wednesday.
“The market moves have been brutal today, volatility as measured by the Vix has surged to its highest levels in nearly five years and is closing in on peak Covid volatility levels,” said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB. “It is hard to pin down where stocks will go next since one theme is dominating markets: President Trump’s massive overreach on tariff policy and its economic and financial effects. Markets are moving on the back of news headlines.”
Stocks staged a brief rally in morning trade on the back of a false social media report that said the Trump administration was considering a 90-day pause in tariffs for all countries except China. The rumours, which were quickly quashed by the White House, saw the S&P 500 swing from a near-5% loss early on to a 3.4% gain within ten minutes. Just half an hour later, the index was back in the red again.
Tariff chaos continues
Investors had hoped to receive word that the White House was holding negotiations with trading partners to lower tariff rates or that it would consider delaying so-called reciprocal tariffs beyond 9 April. However, Trump remained defiant, stating “sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something”.
He also threatened to slap an additional 50% tariff on China from Wednesday if Beijing doesn’t withdraw retaliatory duties on the US. China has already placed a retaliatory 34% tariff on US imports, with Canada and the European Union expected to follow its lead.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick also said the tariffs were “definitely going to stay in place for days and weeks”, despite Trump vowing to keep them in place for the entirety of his second term.
In other news, a number of prominent Wall Street figures have begun to speak out against Trump’s tariffs, with heavyweights Jamie Dimon, Stan Druckenmiller and Bill Ackman all raising concerns publicly about the impact of such a strategy.
Market movers
US Steel surged 16% after Trump ordered a fresh review of Nippon Steel’s proposed takeover bid, calling on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to “determin[e] whether further action in this matter may be appropriate”.
Comments from UBS were weighing on machinery companies Caterpillar, Terex and Paccar, after the Swiss bank cut its rating on the three peers to ‘sell’, raising fears about falling demand and higher prices as a result of the trade war.
Banking stocks were mixed after a recent tariff-related sell-off, with JPMorgan Chase & Co, Morgan Stanley and Citi rallying into the close to finish higher, while Goldman Sachs fell after being downgraded to ‘equal weight’ by Morgan Stanley analysts.
Tariff-related supply chain concerns were continuing to hit stocks in the auto and tech sectors, with Stellantis, Ford and GM joining Apple, Intel and Microsoft in the red.
Dollar Tree jumped after Citi raised its recommendation on the discount retail chain to ‘buy’, saying it is well placed to benefit from the gloomy economic outlook.
Tuesday newspaper round-up: Clean power, Apple. productivity
The world used clean power sources to meet more than 40% of its electricity demand last year for the first time since the 1940s, figures show. A report by the energy thinktank Ember said the milestone was powered by a boom in solar power capacity, which has doubled in the last three years. The report found that solar farms had been the world’s fastest-growing source of energy for the last 20 consecutive years. – Guardian
The UK has lost an attempt to keep details of a legal battle with Apple away from the public. The investigatory powers tribunal, which investigates whether the domestic intelligence services have acted unlawfully, on Monday rejected a bid by the Home Office to withhold from the public the “bare details” of the case. – Guardian
Britain has suffered an “almost unprecedented” plunge in productivity over the past five years in a fresh setback for the Chancellor’s growth ambitions. The Resolution Foundation said GDP per head slumped by 0.5pc between 2019 and 2024, marking the worst drop since the 1970s outside of the financial crisis. It means UK workers are even less productive than official data suggests, with the Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimating that an increase of 1.8pc over the same period. – Telegraph
Brussels has threatened to bar American companies from bidding for taxpayer-funded contracts as Europe seeks to retaliate against Donald Trump’s tariffs. Stéphane Séjourné, executive vice president of the European Commission, said the EU has “the cards” to hit back at Mr Trump’s new levies of 20pc on goods and 25pc on cars. “We could decide to withdraw all American companies from European public procurement,” Mr Séjourné, who is also commissioner for industrial strategy, told Radio France. – Telegraph
Two of America’s best-known financiers have called on President Trump to soften his position on tariffs or risk recession, higher inflation and even “an economic nuclear winter”. Jamie Dimon, chief executive of the biggest US bank, JP Morgan Chase, issued a warning in his annual letter to shareholders, saying that the tariffs imposed by the US would push up inflation and slow growth. – The Times
