London open: FTSE gains on US-China trade truce extension; US CPI eyed
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Tuesday 12 Aug 2025
(Sharecast News) - London stocks rose in early trade on Tuesday after the US and China extended their trade truce deadline by another 90 days, as investors mulled the latest UK jobs data and eyed a key US inflation print.
At 0835 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 0.3% at 9,156.11.
MUFG said: "Risks from trade disruption to both inflation and growth have eased further overnight after President Trump signed an executive order to extend the trade truce with China for another 90-days through to 10th November. All other elements of the previous trade agreement with China apart from the new deadline date were left unchanged.
"In a similar statement China noted that it would also extend its suspension of higher tariffs for a further 90-days. If the deal had not been extended, US "reciprocal" tariffs on goods from China would have jumped back up to at least 54%. President Trump is still imposing a 10% baseline tariff and 20% tariff related to fentanyl. According to Bloomberg, the signing may clear the path for President Trump to visit China to meet with President Xi Jinping in late October as they seek a broader trade agreement."
On home shores, data from the Office for National Statistics showed the unemployment rate was unchanged at a four-year high of 4.7% in the three months to June.
Average earnings growth excluding bonuses was also unchanged, at 5%, while total pay growth including bonuses was 4.6%, down from 5.0%.
The figures also showed that the estimated number of vacancies fell by 44,000 on the quarter, to 718,000, in May to July 2025. This was the 37th consecutive period where vacancy numbers dropped compared with the previous three months, with vacancies falling in 16 of the 18 industry sectors.
The early estimate of payrolled employees for July fell by 164,000 on the year, and by 8,000 on the month, to 30.3m.
ONS director of economic statistics Liz McKeown said: "Taken together, these latest figures point to a continued cooling of the labour market.
"The number of employees on payroll has now fallen in 10 of the last 12 months, with these falls concentrated in hospitality and retail.
"Job vacancies, likewise, have continued to fall, also driven by fewer opportunities in these industries."
ING said: "The UK jobs market is undoubtedly cooling, though a more modest fall in payroll employment suggests that the worst may be behind us, following big tax and Living Wage hikes. Better news on wage growth suggests the Bank can still afford to cut rates in November, though after last week's hawkish meeting, this call has become less clear-cut."
Looking ahead to the rest of the day, attention will turn to the US consumer price index for July at 1330 BST.
Ahmad Assiri, research strategist at Pepperstone, said the CPI is an event that could significantly impact current trading dynamics not just for the remainder of August, but potentially for the entire quarter.
"Consensus calls for a modest uptick in headline inflation, from 2.7% to 2.8%, while core CPI - stripping out food and energy - is expected to remain sticky or edge toward the 3% mark," he said. "Such a print would underscore that underlying price pressures are persisting and may now be feeling the heat from recently come-into-effect tariffs, whose full impact has yet to filter through to consumer prices.
"Today's print will help determine just how far the Fed can advance along its monetary easing path without compromising its inflation mandate. The macro backdrop is further complicated by the extension of the US- China trade deal rather than a firm final deal."
In equity markets, Spirax surged to the top of the FTSE 100 as its first-half-results beat expectations.
Housebuilder Bellway rallied as it said total completions in the year to 31 July rose 14.3% to 8,749 homes at an overall average selling price of around £316,000, compared with £307,909 a year ago, both slightly ahead of previous guidance.
The company said it now expected to maintain "broadly flat" average outlet numbers for fiscal 2026 and forecast growth in volume output to around 9,200 homes and higher cash generation for shareholder returns.
Persimmon, Taylor Wimpey and Barratt Redrow also gained.
Ladbrokes owner Entain edged higher as it lifted its full-year guidance after a better-than-expected first-half performance.
Recruiter PageGroup lost ground after it posted a slump in first-half profit as activity in its two biggest markets, France and Germany, deteriorated.
Genuit was also in the red after results, along with Derwent London.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 9,156.11 0.29%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 21,972.76 0.38%
techMARK (TASX) 5,216.72 0.16%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Spirax Group (SPX) 7,040.00p 16.17%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,151.00p 1.72%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 101.80p 1.50%
Barratt Redrow (BTRW) 383.40p 1.46%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,415.00p 1.43%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 4,647.50p 1.32%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,186.00p 1.25%
Airtel Africa (AAF) 214.60p 1.23%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,763.00p 1.15%
3i Group (III) 4,156.00p 1.14%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
The Sage Group (SGE) 1,137.50p -1.17%
Games Workshop Group (GAW) 15,260.00p -0.91%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) 9,816.00p -0.87%
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 258.60p -0.39%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 1,069.50p -0.33%
GSK (GSK) 1,399.50p -0.32%
Experian (EXPN) 3,721.00p -0.27%
Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 21,150.00p -0.24%
Beazley (BEZ) 912.50p -0.22%
Alliance Witan (ALW) 1,252.00p -0.16%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Moonpig Group (MOON) 219.50p 3.78%
PayPoint (PAY) 748.00p 3.03%
Vistry Group (VTY) 635.00p 2.82%
Bellway (BWY) 2,506.00p 2.79%
Hammerson (HMSO) 305.00p 2.42%
Close Brothers Group (CBG) 554.00p 2.21%
Renishaw (RSW) 3,005.00p 2.21%
Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 1,852.00p 2.21%
Marshalls (MSLH) 208.50p 1.96%
Shaftesbury Capital (SHC) 160.10p 1.91%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Derwent London (DLN) 1,862.00p -2.97%
Jupiter Fund Management (JUP) 122.60p -2.23%
HICL Infrastructure (HICL) 119.80p -1.80%
HarbourVest Global Private Equity Limited A Shs (HVPE) 2,725.00p -1.09%
Bakkavor Group (BAKK) 233.50p -1.06%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 369.70p -0.99%
Worldwide Healthcare Trust (WWH) 307.00p -0.97%
Senior (SNR) 194.60p -0.92%
Genuit Group (GEN) 382.50p -0.91%
Ocean Wilsons Holdings Ltd. (OCN) 1,100.00p -0.90%
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