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London stocks on the FTSE 100 nudged lower in early trade on Tuesday as investors waded through a deluge of corporate releases from the likes of BP and HSBC.
At 0850 BST, the FTSE 100 was down 0.1% at 8,409.11.
Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “The Footsie had been on a winning streak, but it’s struggling to hang onto gains in early trade. Although the blue-chip index has made back a chunk of the losses from the tariff induced turmoil, amid some hopes that tariff pain will be diluted, it’s flatlining as optimism starts to disappear.
“There’s a lack of clarity over how the China-US negotiations will unfold. It appears both sides are waiting for the other to take the initiative, with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent saying it was up to China to de-escalate the situation.
“Amid the standoff, worries about the effect on global growth are lingering, and it’s showing up in oil prices, with Brent Crude falling back by around 1% as projections for energy demand are scaled back.”
In equity markets, Primark owner Associated British Foods slumped as it said first-half profits fell by a tenth with sales slightly behind last year, as growth in retail and food ingredients was offset by a “frustrating” performance in the sugar division.
Adjusted pre-tax profit totalled £818m in the 24 weeks to 1 March, down from £911m the year before, as group revenues fell 2% to £9.51bn. The interim dividend was unchanged at 20.7p per share.
Beazley was sharply lower as it reiterated its full-year outlook and posted a modest uptick in written premiums.
BP lost ground after the oil giant reported lower-than-expected quarterly income as it continued to overhaul its long-term strategy amid tumbling oil prices.
The blue chip said underlying replacement cost profits – its core measure of income – were $1.38bn in the first quarter of 2025. That was an improvement on the previous three months’ $1.17bn, but down sharply on the $2.72bn posted in the first quarter of 2024. It was also below analyst forecasts for $1.53bn.
On the upside, Ladbrokes owner Entain rallied as it reported a strong start to the year with net gaming revenues ahead of expectations and officially appointed interim boss Stella David as its new chief executive.
HSBC was in the black as it posted better-than-expected first-quarter pre-tax profits of $9.5bn and announced a $3bn share buyback. However, the bank also lifted its bad loan provisions in the first quarter, blaming a bleak macroeconomic outlook from higher tariffs and geopolitical tensions.
The lender said it now expects credit losses of $876m, an increase of $202m, with $100m set aside to cover Hong Kong’s commercial property sector.
Howden Joinery surged as it announced plans to open 20 to 25 new depots in the UK this year and refurbish around 60 older locations and said that trading in the first four months of the year was in line with expectations.
Builders’ merchant Travis Perkins gained even as it reported a drop in first-quarter sales, saying that trading remained challenging.
Top 10 FTSE 100 Risers
| Sponsored by Plus500 |
|
| # | Name | Change Pct | Change | Cur Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
Bunzl Plc | +3.05% | +70.00 | 2,366.00 |
| 2 |  |
Bhp Group Limited | +2.20% | +39.50 | 1,837.50 |
| 3 |  |
Anglo American Plc | +2.18% | +46.00 | 2,157.00 |
| 4 |  |
Barratt Redrow Plc | +2.15% | +9.80 | 465.40 |
| 5 |  |
Natwest | +2.01% | +9.60 | 486.70 |
| 6 |  |
South32 Limited | +2.00% | +2.60 | 132.40 |
| 7 |  |
Hsbc Holdings Plc | +1.97% | +16.40 | 850.10 |
| 8 |  |
Bae Systems Plc | +1.93% | +32.50 | 1,713.00 |
| 9 |  |
Antofagasta Plc | +1.88% | +31.50 | 1,711.00 |
| 10 |  |
Tesco Plc | +1.88% | +6.70 | 364.00 |
Top 10 FTSE 100 Fallers
| Sponsored by Plus500 |
|
| # | Name | Change Pct | Change | Cur Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
Associated British Foods Plc | -6.61% | -148.00 | 2,091.00 |
| 2 |  |
Bp Plc | -4.16% | -15.05 | 346.95 |
| 3 |  |
Astrazeneca Plc | -3.67% | -386.00 | 10,140.00 |
| 4 |  |
Ck Infrastructure Holdings Limited | -3.41% | -18.00 | 510.00 |
| 5 |  |
Shell Plc | -1.59% | -39.00 | 2,419.00 |
| 6 |  |
London Stock Exchange Group Plc | -0.88% | -100.00 | 11,255.00 |
| 7 |  |
National Grid Plc | -0.75% | -8.00 | 1,064.00 |
| 8 |  |
Coca-cola Hbc Ag | -0.63% | -24.00 | 3,766.00 |
| 9 |  |
Unilever Plc | -0.60% | -28.00 | 4,671.00 |
| 10 |  |
Experian Plc | -0.33% | -12.00 | 3,603.00 |
US close: Markets finish flat ahead of blue chip earnings, data
US stock markets finished flat on Monday after erasing earlier losses by the close, with investors treading cautiously ahead of a busy week for corporate earnings and economic data.
The Dow and S&P 500 managed to finish in positive territory, albeit marginally, with 0.28% and 0.06% gains respectively, rising for the fifth straight day. But with markets now trading at or close to pre-Liberation Day levels, risk appetite has evaporated somewhat.
The Nasdaq, meanwhile, fell 0.10% with a number of quarterly results due out from Big Tech names later this week, like Amazon.com, Apple, Meta Platforms and Microsoft.
“Considering the kind of volatility markets have witnessed on recent Mondays, the somewhat demure start to the week has felt almost quaint,” said AJ Bell’s head of financial analysis Danni Hewson.
“Tech companies have been just one sector to feel the pain following tariff toing and froing and in a week when a good portion of the cast of the Magnificent Seven release trading updates, investors will be paying close attention to outlooks rather than last quarter’s numbers which already feel woefully out of date.”
Numbers from the likes of soft-drinks behemoth Coca-Cola, credit card services firm Visa and drugmaker Eli Lilly are also due over the coming days.
Also keeping investors on their toes will be the release of key economic indicators, beginning on Wednesday with the ADP Employment Report, the core PCE price index, preliminary estimates of first-quarter GDP and personal income/spending data.
That will be followed on Thursday by jobless claims figures and manufacturing PMIs, and then Friday’s non-farm payrolls report.
On the macro front for Monday, the Dallas Federal Reserve’s manufacturing business index decreased to -35.80 in April, down from -16.30 in March.
Also of note, the S&P 500 was on track to deliver its worst performance over the first 100 days of a new presidency in more than half a century, with the index down almost 8% since Trump’s inauguration on 20 January despite his promise of a “boom like no other” amid ongoing tariff uncertainty, mass layoffs of Federal employees, and an aggressive stance on undocumented workers.
Market movers
Biopharmaceutical outfit SpringWorks Therapeutics continued to push higher after it was revealed that German science and technology giant Merck is to buy the company for $3.9bn or $47 per share. While only a slight premium to SpringWork’s closing price of $44.72 on Friday, the shares have surged by around 20% over the past five trading sessions.
Nvidia finished lower on reports that Huawei Technologies could soon release a new AI processor that could compete with Nvidia’s products.
Meanwhile, broker upgrades were benefitting the likes of Peleton (Truist upgraded to ‘buy’), Boeing (Bernstein upgraded to ‘outperform’), Progressive (Bank of America upgraded to ‘buy’) and On Holdings (Citi upgraded to ‘buy’).
Tuesday newspaper round-up: Gas power stations, blackouts, IBM
Britain’s gas power stations should be nationalised to prevent their owners from holding the electricity market “to ransom”, a thinktank has urged. The country’s dwindling fossil fuel power plants are ripe for nationalisation as ministers aim to reduce gas consumption to just 5% of the electricity system by 2030, according to a report by Common Wealth. – Guardian
Keir Starmer has been warned that Labour’s tough stance on benefits is costing Britain’s economy billions of pounds each year while adding to the pressure on public services by pushing more people into poverty. With the government under fire over its planned benefit cuts, the anti-poverty charity Trussell said that failing to tackle hunger and hardship would have severe human costs and cause damage to the wider economy and public finances. – Guardian
A reliance on net zero energy left Spain and Portugal vulnerable to the mass blackouts engulfing the region, experts said on Monday night. In what is believed to be Europe’s largest power cut, tens of millions of people were left without electricity, while flights were grounded, trains halted and whole cities were left without power, internet access or other vital services. – Telegraph
One of the world’s largest computer companies has said it will spend $150 billion in America over the next five years, making it the latest US technology company to bow to President Trump’s push for domestic manufacturing. IBM, nicknamed “Big Blue”, is based in New York and traces its roots back to 1911. It said the investment would include $30 billion on research and development of the group’s mainframe and quantum computers. – The Times
Sir Jim Ratcliffe has fired a fresh broadside at UK energy policy, claiming that the burden of paying carbon taxes has forced his company to halt projects that would cut its emissions. The outspoken chairman of Ineos said its Grangemouth site in Scotland would have to pay a £15 million bill this week for its carbon dioxide emissions last year. – The Times
