London midday: FTSE rallies as investors welcome Trump's tariff U-turn
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Thursday 10 Apr 2025
(Sharecast News) - London stocks were still enjoying spectacular gains by midday on Thursday as investors welcomed Donald Trump's U-turn on tariffs.
The FTSE 100 was up 4.5% at 8,024.27, off earlier highs but still sharply higher after Trump announced a 90-day pause on tariffs for most countries except China.
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, Trump said: "China wants to make a deal, they just don't know how quite to go about it."
Despite the announced pause and the positive tone in markets, Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, pointed out that the trade war between China and the US "is still in full swing, and tariff levels between the two largest global economies have never been higher".
"This is weighing on the oil price, which is lower once again on Thursday, and Brent crude is down 2.6% to $63.70 per barrel," she said.
"Reports suggest that China could announce stimulus measures to boost its economy, however, they have not been forthcoming so far. Chinese and Hong Kong stocks also rallied today, although by less than European and US peers. Chinese stocks will benefit from the rest of the world avoiding recession if reciprocal tariffs from the US are moderated, which is why they are joining in the global equity market rally on Thursday."
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 equity markets, Barclays was the top performer on the FTSE 100, up 11%, closely followed by Melrose Industries and JD Sports.
On the downside, Tesco slid as it warned 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 rose 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.
Sainsbury's and Marks & Spencer also lost ground.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 8,024.27 4.49%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 18,748.22 4.79%
techMARK (TASX) 4,340.06 4.96%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Barclays (BARC) 268.80p 11.24%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 425.00p 10.13%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 76.12p 10.03%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICG) 1,721.00p 9.69%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,922.80p 8.95%
3i Group (III) 3,900.00p 8.33%
Informa (INF) 692.40p 8.15%
Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 3,508.00p 8.14%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,099.00p 7.85%
WPP (WPP) 533.80p 7.58%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Tesco (TSCO) 315.90p -5.76%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 225.00p -4.58%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 364.30p -0.41%
RELX FINANCE BV 3.375% GTD NTS 20/03/33 (BW73) 99.72p 0.00%
Aviva (AV.) 500.80p 0.12%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,093.00p 0.42%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 4,819.00p 0.46%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 2,831.00p 0.96%
Unilever (ULVR) 4,569.00p 1.47%
Croda International (CRDA) 2,692.00p 1.89%
FTSE 250 - Risers
International Workplace Group (IWG) 170.90p 13.55%
Bridgepoint Group (Reg S) (BPT) 259.80p 13.05%
Trustpilot Group (TRST) 210.40p 12.21%
Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 366.20p 12.12%
Genus (GNS) 1,722.00p 11.24%
Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) 116.80p 11.24%
Diversified Energy Company (DEC) 890.00p 10.77%
Raspberry PI Holdings (RPI) 460.30p 10.60%
Carnival (CCL) 1,307.50p 10.52%
Spectris (SXS) 2,108.00p 10.42%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Ruffer Investment Company Ltd Red PTG Pref Shares (RICA) 273.50p -2.84%
BH Macro Ltd. GBP Shares (BHMG) 391.00p -1.26%
ITV (ITV) 65.95p -0.38%
Mony Group (MONY) 186.10p -0.21%
Rathbones Group (RAT) 1,446.00p -0.14%
Tami Senior Securitisation 2 Ltd Cls A-2 Mb Fxd Rte Nts 31/12/23 (Reg S) (BP00) 0.00p 0.00%
International Distribution Services (IDS) 365.20p 0.00%
TI Fluid Systems (TIFS) 199.40p 0.00%
Assura (AGR) 47.56p 0.13%
BBGI Global Infrastructure S.A. NPV (DI) (BBGI) 140.00p 0.14%
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