London open: Stocks slip as investors wait for next trade headline to hit
By Alexander Bueso
Date: Thursday 24 Apr 2025
(Sharecast News) - Stocks were trading a tad lower in later morning trading while investors waited for the next trade headline to hit.
On Thursday, Washington had dropped hints that it could move to reduce its levies con Chinese goods as part of talks - but not unilaterally.
But investors were growing fatigued, as evidenced by mixed trading overnight in Asia.
"Chalk it up to whiplash fatigue: when the only constant is Trump's inconsistency, price action starts looking like white noise again," said Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management.
As of 0906 GMT, the FTSE 100 was dipping by 0.24% or 20.36 points to 8.382,82, while the second-tier index was down by 0.42% or 81.41 points at 19,401.64.
Also of potentially key importance for the session were the weekly jobless claims data due out later in the States.
Investors were keen to assess whether - and to what extent - recent financial market turbulence was weighing on businesses' hiring and firing decisions.
In the geopolitical space, overnight the US President criticised his Ukrainian counterpart for saying that his country would refuse to ever recognise the Crimean peninsula as Russian territory, explaining that a deal would not require that of Kyiv and labelling the remarks "inflammatory" given the current phase of talks.
There were also differences of criteria between Washington on the one side, and Ukraine and some of its European allies on the other, regarding how to sequence the next steps in efforts to reach a ceasefire.
Those disagreements over sequencing were reminiscent of the ones that preceded the failure of the Minsk II agreements.
At 1230 GMT, the US Department of Labor would release weekly jobless claims figures.
In parallel, the Department of Commerce would publish durable goods orders data for March.
Weir Group, Unilever deliver positive updates
Weir Group reported continued strong demand in the first quarter on Thursday, driven by high mining activity, with original equipment and aftermarket orders each rising 5% year-on-year. The FTSE 100 engineering services company highlighted positive momentum in orders for brownfield and sustainability projects, and noted improving aftermarket demand, particularly in minerals and ESCO products. It reiterated its full-year guidance, citing a robust order book, expected revenue and profit growth in constant currency, and free cash conversion of 90% to 100%.
Consumer goods conglomerate Unilever said it expected a "modest" improvement in underlying operating margin for the full year, versus 18.4% in 2024, adding that the impact of US tariffs would be "limited and manageable". The company on Thursday reaffirmed annual guidance after reporting underlying sales growth of 3% for the first quarter.
Investment platform operator AJ Bell said on Thursday that its platform business had ended H1 with record assets under administration as it delivered "strong growth" in customer numbers. AJ Bell said its platform business reported a 13% increase in assets under administration at £90.4m, while customer numbers increased by 18% year-on-year in Q2 to close at 593,000, with total advised customers up 7% at 177,000 and total D2C customers increasing by 23% to 416,000. Gross inflows grew 18% to £4.0bn and net inflows improved 19% to £1.9bn.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 8,382.28 -0.25%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,397.17 -0.44%
techMARK (TASX) 4,405.33 -0.38%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,009.00p 2.44%
Unite Group (UTG) 877.00p 1.68%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 585.00p 1.56%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 3,060.00p 1.56%
Croda International (CRDA) 2,989.00p 1.43%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 4,727.00p 1.26%
LondonMetric Property (LMP) 192.40p 1.26%
Airtel Africa (AAF) 164.50p 1.23%
Tesco (TSCO) 362.00p 1.20%
Admiral Group (ADM) 3,244.00p 1.19%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 236.90p -5.66%
Spirax Group (SPX) 5,765.00p -3.92%
Smurfit Westrock (DI) (SWR) 3,083.00p -3.60%
Bunzl (BNZL) 2,332.00p -2.26%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 826.80p -2.18%
CRH (CDI) (CRH) 6,578.00p -2.00%
Entain (ENT) 565.00p -1.98%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,645.50p -1.79%
Hiscox Limited (DI) (HSX) 1,144.00p -1.63%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 716.20p -1.59%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Indivior (INDV) 754.50p 8.56%
Endeavour Mining (EDV) 2,104.00p 3.24%
Deliveroo Class (ROO) 139.80p 2.79%
Senior (SNR) 123.60p 2.32%
Currys (CURY) 101.90p 1.80%
Urban Logistics Reit (SHED) 146.40p 1.67%
Grainger (GRI) 216.00p 1.41%
GCP Infrastructure Investments Ltd (GCP) 73.00p 1.39%
Pennon Group (PNN) 491.40p 1.36%
Diversified Energy Company (DEC) 912.00p 1.33%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Inchcape (INCH) 641.00p -7.37%
Ocean Wilsons Holdings Ltd. (OCN) 1,340.00p -5.96%
Vesuvius (VSVS) 320.40p -5.71%
Bridgepoint Group (Reg S) (BPT) 252.00p -3.67%
Bodycote (BOY) 457.20p -3.46%
Hammerson (HMSO) 247.60p -3.43%
Me Group International (MEGP) 189.40p -3.37%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 679.40p -3.22%
Morgan Sindall Group (MGNS) 3,340.00p -3.19%
Derwent London (DLN) 1,891.00p -3.08%
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