London pre-open: Stocks to fall as Trump tariff saga continues

(Sharecast News) - London stocks were set to fall at the open on Tuesday following a downbeat session on Wall Street, as investors continued to keep a close eye on tariff developments.

The FTSE 100 was called to open down around 20 points.

US President Donald Trump said on Monday that the new 1 August tariff deadline was "not 100% firm".

In addition, investors will also be mulling news that Trump has sent tariff letters to 14 countries, including Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and South Africa.

Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank, said: "We're back to square one in terms of the US tariff disaster, as the US has started sending letters to countries revealing their tariff rates - and the rates don't look much different from those announced on the so-called Liberation Day. 25% for South Korea and Japan, 25% for Malaysia; 30% for South Africa; and 40% for Myanmar and Laos.

"There's no fresh news regarding Taiwan and India, but the levies on some Asian nations are clearly pointing the finger at China - due to transshipments.

"Looking at the first wave of numbers, only one country appears to have pulled itself out of the tariff turmoil with minimal damage: the UK, with a tariff rate of 10%. The EU could also pull off a 10% rate as soon as this week - which would be great.

"But for the rest, the tariffs don't look good, and the three-month risk rally is in jeopardy - even though markets remain on a surprising wave of optimism that defies the renewed tensions Asian tariffs will place on supply chains and prices."

In UK corporate news, specialist polymer maker Victrex said second-half underlying profits could be at a "broadly similar" level to the first as it continued to see a weaker-than-expected performance at its medical division, production issues at its new China plant and currency headwinds.

"Overall Q3 trading saw continued volume momentum, offset by a softer than expected performance in medical and further adverse sales mix within sustainable solutions," said CEO Jakob Sigurdsson.

Student accommodation provider Unite Group reiterated its FY25 guidance for adjusted EPRA earnings per share of 47.5p to 48.25p as it said it had seen "continuing momentum", with 85% of beds sold for the 2025/26 academic year.

Unite said the outlook for student demand was "strong", with 2% growth in applications from UK 18-year-olds and student visa applications up 29% over the first five months of the year.