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London stocks on the FTSE 100 rose in early trade on Monday as investors eyed a busy week, with UK banks and US tech giants due to report.
At 0845 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 0.4% at 8,448.50.
Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said: “An uneasy calm has descended on markets, with a sense that no news is good news in respect of any further tariff announcements for the time being at least.
“Left to their own devices without the major distractions of the confusing messages emanating from the White House, investors have gone back to their knitting temporarily and markets have edged slightly higher as a result, although not by enough to repair the damage which has already been wrought.”
Hunter pointed to a busy reporting week to come domestically, with updates from the oil majors and the pharmaceuticals, as well as a half-year report from Primark owner Associated British Foods.
“However, the first quarter reporting season from the UK banks is likely to top the agenda. Each has had a strong share price run leading into the numbers, with the recent read across from the US banks providing some comfort. That being said, and as with their Stateside peers, outlook comments are likely to be highly cautious given the current global backdrop and any notable increases in impairment provisions would likely be met with some disappointment.”
In the US, meanwhile, tech results will be in focus, with earnings due from Meta, Amazon, Microsoft and Apple.
On the UK corporate front, Deliveroo surged after it announced late on Friday that it had received a £2.7m takeover proposal from US rival DoorDash that it was minded to recommend.
Marks & Spencer was in the red as it continued to deal with the impact of a cyber attack which has led the retailer to pause online orders.
Inchcape was knocked lower by a downgrade to ‘neutral’ at BNPP Exane, while Man Group fell after a downgrade to ‘neutral’ at JPMorgan.
Fintech group Plus500 nudged lower despite saying it expects 2025 results to be ahead of current market forecasts after an “excellent” start to the year, driven by recent macroeconomic and financial market conditions.
The company, which operates proprietary tech-based trading platforms, reported revenues of $205.8m over the first three months of the year, up 13% on the fourth quarter but 5% behind last year.
Top 10 FTSE 100 Risers
| Sponsored by Plus500 |
|
| # | Name | Change Pct | Change | Cur Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
Melrose Industries Plc | +2.75% | +11.80 | 441.20 |
| 2 |  |
Diageo Plc | +1.99% | +41.00 | 2,106.00 |
| 3 |  |
Aib Group Plc | +1.86% | +9.00 | 493.00 |
| 4 |  |
Banco Santander S.a. | +1.66% | +9.00 | 550.00 |
| 5 |  |
Wpp Plc | +1.58% | +8.80 | 564.20 |
| 6 |  |
Associated British Foods Plc | +1.18% | +26.00 | 2,229.00 |
| 7 |  |
Smith & Nephew Plc | +1.17% | +11.60 | 1,003.00 |
| 8 |  |
Intercontinental Hotels Group Plc | +1.12% | +88.00 | 7,934.00 |
| 9 |  |
The Sage Group Plc | +1.09% | +13.00 | 1,210.50 |
| 10 |  |
Fresnillo | +1.02% | +10.00 | 992.50 |
Top 10 FTSE 100 Fallers
| Sponsored by Plus500 |
|
| # | Name | Change Pct | Change | Cur Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
Marks And Spencer Group Plc | -2.23% | -8.60 | 377.40 |
| 2 |  |
Wise Plc | -1.81% | -17.50 | 951.00 |
| 3 |  |
Standard Chartered Plc | -1.05% | -11.50 | 1,079.50 |
| 4 |  |
Weir Group Plc | -0.95% | -22.00 | 2,290.00 |
| 5 |  |
Anglo American Plc | -0.93% | -20.00 | 2,128.00 |
| 6 |  |
South32 Limited | -0.91% | -1.20 | 130.40 |
| 7 |  |
Beazley Plc | -0.89% | -8.00 | 886.00 |
| 8 |  |
Rightmove Plc | -0.86% | -6.20 | 711.40 |
| 9 |  |
Relx Plc | -0.65% | -26.00 | 3,977.00 |
| 10 |  |
Crh Plc | -0.52% | -36.00 | 6,918.00 |
US close: Alphabet results, trade newsflow lifts stocks
US stocks logged their fourth day in positive territory as investors focused on improving newsflow regarding tariffs and shrugged off some gloomy consumer confidence data.
The Dow edged 0.1% higher, while the S&P 500 gained 0.7% and the Nasdaq jumped 1.3%; over the past week alone, the indices have risen 4.0%, 6,4% and 9.2% respectively, with the latter supported by forecast-beating results from tech giant Alphabet.
“The large move in the Nasdaq is a reflection of the outsized selloff in the tech giants, particularly the ‘Magnificent Seven’, since earlier this year,” explained David Morrison, senior market analyst at Trade Nation.
“While all of the ‘Mag 7’ constituents have bounced significantly off the lows which followed President Trump’s reciprocal tariff announcement at the beginning of this month, they are still registering big losses since February.”
On the macro front, the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index was revised higher to 52.2 in April, up from a preliminary reading of 50.8 but down from 57 in March. Despite the upward revision, consumer sentiment was down for a fourth straight month to the lowest reading since July 2022. The expectations gauge plummeted to 47.3, while year-ahead inflation expectations jumped to 6.5%, the highest reading since 1981, while long-run inflation expectations climbed to 4.4%.
Tariff seesaw continues
Rumours that China is considering suspending its 125% retaliatory tariffs on select US imports sparked gains early on, raising hopes that the two nations could come to a deal, while US-Japan trade talks were said to be promising.
However, reports from Xinhua News Agency on Friday suggested that China was preparing contingency plans – such as monetary and policy tools to boost the economy amid the deepening trade war – as Beijing continues to dismiss US reports that the two sides were closing in on a trade deal.
Investors were also digesting comments from Donald Trump who told Time Magazine that he would consider it a “total victory” if America had elevated tariffs of 20-50% on foreign countries a year from now. Trump also denied that rising yields had forced him to put a 90-day pause on the majority of his higher tariff rates and stated that announcements regarding many trade deals would be coming “over the next three to four weeks”.
“The chances are that tariffs on China are cut from their current more than 100% effective rate, but there is no clear timeline,” said Michael Pearce, deputy chief US economist at Oxford Economics. “We prefer to focus on tariff actions rather than speculation; the next decision point on trade policy will be whether the administration delays, or waters down the auto parts tariffs, due to take effect next week.”
Market movers
Google-parent Alphabet was trading 2% higher after it posted a beat on both the top and bottom lines in the first quarter, fuelled by its core search and advertising business. Consolidated revenues were 12% higher than last year at $90.2bn, ahead of the $89.12bn expected by analysts, while operating income comfortably beat Wall Street estimates for $28.7bn, up 20% at $30.6bn.
Intel shares dropped 7% after the computer components giant beat estimates but issued disappointing guidance. As it announced plans to cut both operational and capital expenses, the company pointed to revenues for the second quarter of $11.8bn, around $1bn shy of the current consensus forecast.
EV group Tesla gained 10% as investors hunted for a bargain following a dismal performance from the stock so far this year – down 30% year-to-date even after Friday’s surge.
Colgate-Palmolive rose despite a mixed earnings report, as it beat analysts’ forecasts with quarterly profits and simultaneously lowered its full-year outlook. The household and consumer products giant cut its growth forecasts for 2025 profits from a mid-single-digit to a low-single-digit percentage.
Monday newspaper round-up: UK banks, RedBird Capital, Will Shu
UK banks’ earnings reports will be studied this week for signs of turmoil linked to Donald Trump’s tariff drama, with uncertainty over global growth likely to weigh on lenders with heavy exposure to China, including HSBC. First-quarter profits only reflect the January-to-March period that preceded the US president’s “liberation day” tariff announcements on 2 April. But investors will be concerned about any hints of caution around earnings forecasts, as well as an uptick in money put aside for defaults by tariff-hit borrowers. – Guardian
The US private equity firm RedBird Capital is confident of tabling a deal to take control of the Daily and Sunday Telegraph as soon as next month, in an attempt to end two years of “paralysis and unhappiness” at the 170-year-old titles. The firm’s founder, Gerry Cardinale, is personally involved in drafting a plan to either form a consortium or self-fund a takeover at Telegraph Media Group, the Guardian understands. – Guardian
Chinese fast-fashion giant Shein has increased prices for American shoppers by up to 377pc to help offset the hit from Donald Trump’s tariff war. The online shopping giant company, which sources most of its products from China, introduced sharp rises on an array of popular items ranging from makeup to women’s clothes for US customers on Friday in the wake of higher US import duties. – Telegraph
Investors are set to give their verdict on a prospective £2.7 billion takeover of Deliveroo by a larger American rival, which could net its founder more than £170 million despite the company losing more than half its value since its disastrous initial public offering. Shares in the FTSE 250 constituent will be in sharp focus when trading begins on Monday morning after Deliveroo’s board said it would be “minded to recommend” a takeover proposal from Door Dash, which valued the takeaway group at £2.7 billion, or 180p a share. – The Times
Homeowners aged 60 and over are sitting on a record £2.95 trillion worth of property, with 98 per cent of this mortgage-free, according to an analysis that lays bare the extent of the UK’s generational housing divide. The calculations, by the estate agency Savills, showed £2.89 trillion of mortgage-free property being held by over-60s who were residential homeowners and only £60 billion worth of mortgages, 2 per cent of the total value of their homes. – The Times
