London midday: Stocks extend gains as Segro, Shell advance
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Tuesday 25 Mar 2025
(Sharecast News) - London stocks had extended gains by midday on Tuesday, helped along by a strong showing from housebuilders, with Segro and Shell also providing a boost.
The FTSE 100 was up 0.7% at 8,701.74.
Trump's trade war was rumbling on in the background.
Neil Wilson, analyst at TipRanks, said: "Remember yesterday the narrative was 'sectoral tariffs may not be on the table, stocks rally'? Well Trump has indicated that just ain't so. Trump said he will soon announce tariffs targeting automobiles and pharmaceuticals, later adding lumber and semiconductor industries to his list of sectors due some levies.
"It was unclear whether this would be part of the 'reciprocal tariffs', which are set for April 2nd. In fact it's all very unclear. 'We'll be announcing cars very shortly, We'll be announcing pharmaceuticals at some point,' he said.
"Later he said he 'may give a lot of countries breaks' on the reciprocal tariffs.
"When asked whether sectoral tariffs will also start that day, Trump said, 'Yeah, it's going to be everything'.
"Then he said, 'but not all tariffs are included that day'.
"He then hinted that tariffs on cars would happen before April 2nd.
"Good heavens."
On home shores, the latest 'distributive trades' survey from the Confederation of British Industry showed that retail sales slumped in March amid weak consumer confidence.
This marked the sixth consecutive month of decline, with retailers expecting sales to fall again in April, but at a slower rate.
The CBI's retail sales balance fell to -41 in March from -23 in February.
A balance is the weighted difference between the percentage of firms reporting an increase and those reporting a decrease.
Sales for the time of year were deemed to be below seasonal norms in March, to a similar extent to February, with a balance of -36% in March versus -34% the month before.
Martin Sartorius, principal economist at the CBI, said: "Annual retail sales volumes fell markedly in March and are expected to continue declining next month. Firms across the retail and wholesale sectors reported that global trade tensions and the Autumn Budget are weighing on consumer and business confidence, which is leading to reduced demand.
"Tomorrow's Spring Statement is likely to focus on the persistent challenges facing the UK economy, reinforcing the need for policies that boost businesses' confidence to invest.
"Reforming business rates, supporting the British Business Bank's Growth Guarantee Scheme, and properly resourcing the Growth and Skills Levy could support businesses' investment plans and drive the government's growth ambitions."
In equity markets, housebuilders got a boost after Bellway hailed a "strong" first half as it posted a 12% increase in interim underlying pre-tax profit, citing lower mortgage interest rates and an improvement in consumer confidence.
Bellway rallied, along with Persimmon, Barratt, Taylor Wimpey, Vistry and Crest Nicholson.
Segro jumped to the top of the FTSE 100 as it announced a joint venture with Pure Data Centres - owned by Oaktree - to develop a £1bn fully fitted data facility.
Shell gushed higher as the energy giant said it was targeting 4% to 5% annual sales growth in liquefied natural gas in the next five years and increased its shareholder distribution policy with a focus on share buybacks, while cutting its spending outlook.
Morgan Sindall surged as it said 2025 profits were set to be "slightly" ahead of market consensus following a stronger-than-expected performance from the Fit Out division.
Online electricals retailer AO World also gained as it hailed a "strong" performance and said that full-year profit was set to be around the top end of its previously upgraded guidance range.
On the downside, Kingfisher slumped after the DIY retail group forecast small earnings growth this year at best and warned of the impact of budgetary measures in the UK and France on consumer sentiment and costs in the short term.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 8,701.74 0.74%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,077.32 0.78%
techMARK (TASX) 4,721.06 0.52%
FTSE 100 - Risers
SEGRO (SGRO) 718.00p 3.91%
Weir Group (WEIR) 2,456.00p 2.93%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,364.50p 2.56%
Informa (INF) 801.40p 2.09%
St James's Place (STJ) 1,048.00p 2.04%
Shell (SHEL) 2,780.00p 2.02%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,024.00p 1.91%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,214.50p 1.84%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 293.30p 1.84%
Beazley (BEZ) 883.50p 1.73%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Kingfisher (KGF) 243.30p -13.01%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 554.50p -0.72%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) 11,140.00p -0.71%
Smurfit Westrock (DI) (SWR) 3,444.00p -0.40%
Diageo (DGE) 2,043.50p -0.39%
Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (DI) (CCEP) 6,520.00p -0.31%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 332.60p -0.27%
BAE Systems (BA.) 1,580.00p -0.25%
Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 19,115.00p -0.23%
Games Workshop Group (GAW) 14,520.00p -0.14%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Morgan Sindall Group (MGNS) 3,285.00p 8.06%
Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 175.50p 5.91%
AO World (AO.) 100.80p 5.00%
Harbour Energy (HBR) 205.10p 4.94%
Pollen Street Group Limited (POLN) 750.00p 4.75%
THG (THG) 35.46p 4.29%
Harworth Group (HWG) 173.00p 4.22%
Trustpilot Group (TRST) 237.50p 3.94%
Energean (ENOG) 846.00p 3.74%
Diversified Energy Company (DEC) 1,049.00p 3.66%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Raspberry PI Holdings (RPI) 489.30p -4.53%
IP Group (IPO) 42.45p -4.07%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 63.00p -2.17%
Edinburgh Worldwide Inv Trust (EWI) 163.80p -1.92%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 1,376.00p -1.78%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 256.30p -1.42%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 258.00p -1.34%
Spectris (SXS) 2,438.00p -1.22%
BlackRock World Mining Trust (BRWM) 488.50p -1.01%
Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 276.00p -0.90%
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