London pre-open: Stocks to surge as Trump announces 90-day tariff pause
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Thursday 10 Apr 2025
(Sharecast News) - London stocks were set to surge at the open on Thursday, taking their cue from whopping gains in the US and Asia after Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause on tariffs for most countries except China.
The FTSE 100 was called to open around 5.5% higher.
Trump said on Wednesday that countries that were subjected to reciprocal tariff rates would see the rate go back down to 10% to allow for trade negotiations.
In a post on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump said: "Based on the lack of respect that China has shown to the World's Markets, I am hereby raising the tariff charged to China by the United States of America to 125%, effective immediately.
"At some point, hopefully in the near future, China will realise that the days of ripping off the USA, and other countries, is no longer sustainable or acceptable."
Speaking to reporters after the announcement, he said: "China wants to make a deal, they just don't know how quite to go about it."
Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank, said: "This morning, European stock futures are up more than 8%, though US futures are taking a breather. Investors are hoping this 90-day pause gives countries enough time to renegotiate, reorganise supply chains, and soften the tariff shock.
"That's fundamentally positive- whether the tariffs go ahead or not. Having time to put together a Plan B is a gift...but I wouldn't pop the champagne just yet. We've already seen how the uncertainty alone has hit businesses."
On home shores, a survey showed that activity across the housing market slowed last month as price growth flattened out and new buyer demand slowed.
According to the latest Residential Market Survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, the house price balance fell to 2 in March, from 11 in February and 20 in January.
New buyer demand, meanwhile, declined from -16 a month earlier to -32, the weakest reading since September 2023.
Respondents said the rush to complete sales before changes to stamp duty came into effect on 1 April tailed off as the month wore on.
Agreed sales were also marginally softer, down three points on February at -16.
Looking ahead, a majority of survey participants still expect sales volumes to rise long term. But they were more cautious shorter-term, with the three-month sales expectations pointing to a further dip in activity.
Rics noted: "Looking to next month, the impact on the UK property market from newly-imposed US global tariffs and potential tariff responses by other nations may stimulate further uncertainty going forward."
Simon Rubinsohn, chief economist at Rics, said: "The expiry of the stamp duty break was always going to lead to a pause in activity in the sales market.
"However, the latest results, and indeed the anecdotal remarks from respondents to the survey, suggest that the shift in sentiment has been aggravated by the slew of negative macro news flow over the past few weeks.
"Looking forward, the impact on the market will in no small part depend on how the economy is affected by the emerging trade war and the response of the Bank of England to the shifting environment."
In corporate news, Tesco warned that profits in the current year could be squeezed, as competition from rivals ramps up.
The UK's biggest grocer said group sales in the year to February 2025, excluding VAT and fuel, had jumped 3.5% to £63.64bn.
Group adjusted operating profits soared 10.6% to £3.13bn, of which retail adjusted operating profit rose 7.7% at £2.97bn.
However, looking to the current year, the supermarket chain adopted a more cautious tone, following a "further increase in the competitive intensity of the UK market".
As a result, it now expects group adjusted operating profit to come in between £2.7bn and £3.0bn in the 2025/26 full year.
Great Portland hailed a strong end to its financial year, with leases 9.9% ahead of estimated rental value in the fourth quarter.
The company said that good progress across its development pipeline and strong demand means it is "well positioned to take full advantage of favourable leasing markets".
LondonMetric Property said it had bought a long-let Marks & Spencer logistics warehouse for £74m, reflecting a net interest yield of 5.65%.
The 390,000 sq ft regional logistics warehouse is pre-let to M&S on a 20-year lease with five yearly upward only rent reviews linked to CPI, the company said.
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