London open: Stocks slide amid US-EU tensions over Greeland
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Tuesday 20 Jan 2026
(Sharecast News) - London stocks slid in early trade on Tuesday amid growing tensions between the US and the EU over Donald Trump's Greenland plans.
At 0900 GMT, the FTSE 100 was down 1.1% at 10,083.36.
Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, said: "What happens next for financial markets will ultimately depend on President Trump's actions in the coming days. Greenland continues to be the focus for investors. The President posted a picture of himself holding a US flag on Greenland, suggesting that the territory will be owned by the US this year.
"However, he also said that he will hold a Greenland meeting at Davos, after a good conversation with the Nato secretary general and former Dutch PM, Mark Rutte. For now, Trump is sticking to his guns and said that there is 'no going back' on his Greenland pledge. Thus, the meeting in Davos later this week will be critical."
On home shores, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed the unemployment rate was unchanged in November, while wage growth slowed modestly.
The unemployment rate in September through November was 5.1%, unchanged on the previous month. It was, however, notionally ahead of consensus expectations for 5%.
Average growth in employees' regular average earnings, which excludes bonuses, slowed to 4.5% from 4.6%, in line with expectations. Earnings including bonuses also slowed, nudging down to 4.7% from 4.8%.
Jake Finney, senior economist at PwC UK, said: "The labour market is weakening as elevated policy uncertainty and weaker hiring start to bite. Crucially, the slowdown is now showing up in higher unemployment rather than further falls in vacancies, which are stabilising. As is often the case when the labour market slows, young people are at the sharp end of the rise in unemployment.
"The Bank of England warned in November that unemployment could rise to 5.5%, a level that may warrant more policy easing than is currently priced in. With unemployment now at 5.1%, up from 4.4% a year ago, there are signs it is moving in that direction. Even so, today's data is unlikely to move the dial on a potential rate cut on 5 February. The Monetary Policy Committee is likely to wait for the inflation figures, but a March cut looks more likely. By then, further data releases should give the Bank greater confidence that conditions have eased."
In equity markets, luxury fashion brand Burberry was the biggest loser on the FTSE 100 ahead of a third-quarter trading update on Wednesday, closely followed by equipment rental firm Ashtead, which has significant exposure to the US.
Ibstock tumbled as it staid 2025 started well, with a solid increase in volumes, but market uncertainty led to progressively tougher conditions through the second half, while Big Yellow was weaker after a trading statement.
Drugs giant GSK fell after it agreed to buy American allergy specialist Rapt Therapeutics in a $2.2bn deal.
On the upside, Informa was the standout gainer on the top-flight index as it said strong trading through the fourth quarter, particularly in Live B2B Events, was expected to deliver full-year results in line with or ahead of market guidance and announced a £200m share buyback.
Gold miners Endeavour and Hochschild also shone as the gold price surged more than 1% to a fresh high above $4,700 an ounce.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 10,083.36 -1.10%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 22,939.64 -0.74%
techMARK (TASX) 5,822.74 -0.89%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Informa (INF) 894.20p 2.50%
BT Group (BT.A) 187.20p 0.97%
Metlen Energy & Metals (MTLN) 42.28p 0.65%
Pearson (PSON) 935.00p 0.56%
Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (DI) (CCEP) 6,560.00p 0.46%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 79.66p 0.10%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 102.00p 0.00%
RELX FINANCE BV 3.375% GTD NTS 20/03/33 (BW73) 98.64p 0.00%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,872.00p -0.07%
Rightmove (RMV) 503.80p -0.08%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,193.50p -3.48%
Spirax Group (SPX) 6,835.00p -3.05%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 4,970.00p -2.74%
SSE (SSE) 2,300.00p -2.67%
Halma (HLMA) 3,514.00p -2.28%
St James's Place (STJ) 1,452.50p -2.16%
Diploma (DPLM) 5,345.00p -2.11%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 13,602.00p -2.07%
Weir Group (WEIR) 3,018.00p -2.01%
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 262.40p -1.98%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Pan African Resources (PAF) 128.60p 2.55%
SDCL Efficiency Income Trust (SEIT) 51.50p 1.98%
Endeavour Mining (EDV) 4,152.00p 1.37%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 586.00p 1.03%
Frasers Group (FRAS) 681.00p 0.59%
Princes Group (PRN) 457.25p 0.49%
Moonpig Group (MOON) 215.50p 0.47%
RIT Capital Partners (RCP) 2,205.00p 0.46%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 171.35p 0.44%
Applied Nutrition (APN) 234.00p 0.43%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Ibstock (IBST) 126.80p -6.90%
Ceres Power Holdings (CWR) 287.20p -5.46%
Ashmore Group (ASHM) 225.00p -3.27%
Pagegroup (PAGE) 194.40p -2.46%
Chemring Group (CHG) 527.00p -2.23%
Baillie Gifford Japan Trust (BGFD) 919.00p -2.13%
JPMorgan Japanese Inv Trust (JFJ) 741.00p -2.11%
Trustpilot Group (TRST) 209.60p -2.06%
CMC Markets (CMCX) 310.50p -2.05%
Quilter (QLT) 187.70p -2.04%
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