London pre-open: Stocks seen down after another record high
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Tuesday 11 Feb 2025
(Sharecast News) - London stocks were set to fall at the open on Tuesday after jumping to another record high a day earlier, as investors continue to mull Trump's latest tariff announcement.
The FTSE 100 was called to open down around 10 points.
Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, said: "President Trump's tariff policy remains unclear, and thus, difficult to price in by financial markets. Trump said on Monday that tariffs on metals could go higher, and other tariffs could be announced later this week.
"At this stage, traders have little clarity about how far Trump's tariff policies will go, whether they are mostly a negotiating tactic or if they will have a more long-lasting economic impact. It is also unclear if it will spark a wave of protectionism."
On home shores, data out earlier showed that UK shoppers braced stormy weather in January to take advantage of promotional deals, with sales rising strongly compared with the year before.
According to the British Retail Consortium-KPMG retail sales monitor, total retail sales increased at an annual rate of 2.6% last month, down from the 3.2% year-on-year growth seen in December but well ahead of the 1.2% gain recorded in January 2024.
Results were boosted by an earlier start of the reporting period, the BRC said, which added a few more post-Christmas shopping days into the mix.
Following a 3.3% annual slump in sales in November, the three-month average growth rate stood at just 1.1%, while the 12-month average growth rate was 0.8%.
Food sales rose 2.8% year-on-year, while non-food sales were up 2.6%. Meanwhile, in-store non-food sales were 2.6% higher while online non-food gained 2.2%.
"January sales kicked off a solid month for retail with stores delivering their strongest growth in almost two years, albeit on a weak comparable," said the BRC's chief executive, Helen Dickinson.
"Consumers headed to the shops to refresh their homes for the year ahead, taking advantage of big discounts on furniture, bedding and other home accessories. With growth across nearly all categories, only toys and baby equipment remained in decline. While the bouts of stormy weather put a temporary dampener on demand, sales growth held up well throughout the rest of the month."
However, Dickinson painted an uncertain picture looking ahead, with inflationary pressures and £7bn of new costs for retailers - comprising higher national insurance contributions, a higher National Living Wage, and a new packaging levy - likely to lead to price increases and lower investment.
"Government can mitigate this by ensuring its proposed business rates reforms do not result in any shop paying more in business rates," she said.
In corporate news, BP reported operating cash flow of $27.3bn and adjusted EBITDA of $38bn for 2024 in an update, with upstream production rising 2% year-over-year to 2.36 million barrels of oil equivalent per day.
The oil giant said it was focussed on efficiency by divesting non-core assets, reducing structural costs by $0.8bn, and forming an offshore wind joint venture with JERA, while also expanding its portfolio with 10 major project investments, including a new gas venture, Arcius Energy, and a technical services agreement for India's largest offshore oil field.
BP announced a dividend of eight cents per share and a $1.75bn share buyback for the fourth quarter.
Sports betting and gaming group Entain revealed that chief executive Gavin Isaacs has left the company with immediate effect after just five months.
Entain, which runs brands like Coral, Ladbrokes and Foxy Bingo as well part-owning the BetMGM brand in the US, did not disclose a reason for the abrupt departure, but said that the decision was "by mutual agreement".
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