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London stocks on the FTSE 100 surged in early trade on Monday after the US and China agreed a temporary deal to cut tariffs, but the sharp gains were short-lived.
At 0930 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 0.2% at 8,572.58, having risen as much as 1% earlier after it emerged that the US and China have agreed to significantly lower tariffs following after a key agreement struck in Geneva over the weekend.
The world’s two largest economies will now cut levies for the next 90 days. Washington will reduce tariffs on Chinese goods to 30% from 145%, while Beijing will lower duties to 10% from 125%.
Speaking at a press conference in Geneva, US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent said: “We want more balanced trade, and I think both sides are committed to achieving that.
“Neither side wants to a decoupling.”
He added that the two sides now had a “mechanism for continued talks”.
In Beijing, China’s state broadcaster CCTV called the talks “candid, in-depth and constructive”. Official media reports also noted that further discussions “on issues of mutual concern” were now expected.
The talks were the first formal negotiations held since Donald Trump upended world markets on 2 April, when he unveiled his sweeping global tariff regime. China retaliated with its own swingeing tariffs on US imports.
Neil Wilson, UK investor strategist at Saxo Markets, said: “The de-escalation seems better than just about anyone could hope for.
“This is buying time for a more comprehensive deal, [and] allows time for the process and mechanism, in the worlds of Bessent, to take place.
“He also stressed that strategic rebalancing of the global economy is still underway, although ‘neither side want a decoupling’, which is the sort of commentary the market is going to lap up. But it is not true – the US is absolutely trying to decouple.”
In equity markets, heavily-weighted miners were among the top performers, with Glencore, Anglo American, Antofagasta and Rio all higher.
On the FTSE 250, 4imprint was the standout gainer, having warned in March that tariffs could dent sales this year.
Shares in meat producer Cranswick plunged after Britain’s Big Four supermarkets all suspended supplies from its Northmoor Farm in Lincolnshire following reports of animal abuse.
Secret recordings obtained by the Mail on Sunday showed workers at the site engaging in inhumane practices, including piglet ‘thumping’ – a criminal offence whereby runts of the litter or sick piglets are killed by being violently hit against floors and walls.
Botching killings of sows were also filmed, along with a number of other unnecessary acts that put pigs under distress and considerable pain.
Cranswick is the largest meat supplier to grocers in the UK, and Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Asda have all announced that they pulled supplies immediately following the revelations.
Victrex was also weaker after interim results.
Top 10 FTSE 100 Risers
| Sponsored by Plus500 |
|
| # | Name | Change Pct | Change | Cur Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
Smurfit Westrock Plc | +7.54% | +236.00 | 3,366.00 |
| 2 |  |
Glencore Plc | +7.53% | +19.00 | 271.30 |
| 3 |  |
Standard Chartered Plc | +7.21% | +77.00 | 1,144.50 |
| 4 |  |
Antofagasta Plc | +7.12% | +123.50 | 1,857.00 |
| 5 |  |
Anglo American Plc | +6.98% | +143.00 | 2,191.50 |
| 6 |  |
Carnival Plc | +5.98% | +82.50 | 1,463.00 |
| 7 |  |
Intermediate Capital Group Plc | +5.20% | +102.00 | 2,064.00 |
| 8 |  |
Bhp Group Limited | +5.17% | +94.50 | 1,921.50 |
| 9 |  |
Ashtead Group Plc | +4.77% | +196.00 | 4,304.00 |
| 10 |  |
Rio Tinto Plc | +4.74% | +213.00 | 4,709.50 |
Top 10 FTSE 100 Fallers
| Sponsored by Plus500 |
|
| # | Name | Change Pct | Change | Cur Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
Fresnillo | -4.71% | -50.00 | 1,011.00 |
| 2 |  |
United Utilities Group Plc | -3.20% | -35.50 | 1,075.50 |
| 3 |  |
National Grid Plc | -3.08% | -32.50 | 1,021.50 |
| 4 |  |
Imperial Brands Plc | -3.08% | -93.00 | 2,925.00 |
| 5 |  |
Astrazeneca Plc | -3.06% | -313.00 | 9,927.00 |
| 6 |  |
Severn Trent Plc | -2.98% | -80.00 | 2,603.00 |
| 7 |  |
Bae Systems Plc | -2.64% | -44.50 | 1,643.50 |
| 8 |  |
Marks And Spencer Group Plc | -2.51% | -9.00 | 349.00 |
| 9 |  |
Tesco Plc | -2.38% | -9.00 | 368.70 |
| 10 |  |
Auto Trader Group Plc | -2.28% | -19.60 | 840.60 |
US close: Stocks mostly lower as traders look ahead to China talks
Major indices were mostly lower at the close of trading on Friday as market participants looked ahead to talks with Chinese officials over the weekend.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.29% at 41,429.38, while the S&P 500 lost 0.07% to 5,659.91 and the Nasdaq Composite was flat at 17,928.92.
The Dow closed 119.07 points lower on Friday, taking a bite out of gains recorded in the previous session after the White House announced it had struck a trade deal with Westminster, the first deal since Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs were unveiled on 2 April.
Trade was in focus again on Friday, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and trade representative Jamieson Greer both set to meet with their Chinese counterparts in Switzerland over the weekend. The US has kept its 145% tariff rate on Chinese imports unchanged, despite having already instituted a 90-day pause on tariffs for most countries, but Trump said on Friday that an “80% Tariff on China seems right” ahead of talks.
“Many Trade Deals in the hopper, all good (GREAT!) ones!,” Trump wrote on social media, a day after his preliminary trade agreement with the UK was announced, with market participants hopeful that the UK deal would establish a framework for the US to secure further deals with major nations.
While no major data points were released on Friday, speeches from a number of Federal Reserve bankers will be in focus, with Adriana Kugler, John Williams, Austan Goolsbee, Christopher Waller, Lisa Cook and Beth Hammack all set to speak throughout the course of the day.
In the corporate space, Pinterest shares were up double-digits after issuing stronger-than-expected Q2 guidance, while Coinbase was in the red on the back of softer-than-expected Q1 revenues and Expedia headed south after offering up disappointing guidance and declining Q1 revenues.
Monday newspaper round-up: Staff layoffs, food retailers, Dutch style pensions
UK employers laid off staff in April at a faster pace than the previous month as the combination of higher employment costs and shock waves from Donald Trump’s tariff war sent boardroom confidence levels plummeting. The human resources association, CIPD, said employer confidence levels slumped to an all-time low, prompting job cuts and a widespread hiring freeze. – Guardian
Food retailers have seen a “massive” increase in pensioner shoplifters over the last year, according to a leading store security firm, amid the rising cost of living. John Nussbaum, director of service for retail at Kingdom Services Group, has said his staff were seeing a “different sort of shoplifter now” as the cost of living “pushes people to something they’ve never done before”. – Guardian
Angela Rayner’s plan to overhaul workers’ rights has crushed business confidence to a record low, as bosses prepare to slash jobs and curb hiring. Optimism among employers has fallen to levels not seen outside of the pandemic, according to a new survey, with just 25pc of bosses claiming they expect to increase headcount over the next three months. This is the lowest level since late 2020, when Britain was still in the depths of Covid. – Telegraph
A Ministry of Defence and Border Force supplier is being prosecuted for alleged bribery, forgery and money laundering and pursued over claims it violated sanctions. Damen Shipyards, which has supplied boats used by the UK government to test military technology, monitor Britain’s borders and pick up migrants in the Channel, is being prosecuted in the Netherlands over criminal allegations related to its international sales. – The Times
More than 200 employers have expressed interest in taking part in a pioneering type of retirement scheme that proponents say could generate worker pensions 20 per cent to 50 per cent larger for the same outlay and risk. The pensions administrator TPT, which announced on May 8 that it was pressing ahead with the country’s first multi-employer collective defined contribution (CDC) scheme, said it was confident it can reach the critical mass needed to be viable. – The Times
