London pre-open: Stocks to nudge lower as investors continue to mull Trump tariffs

(Sharecast News) - London stocks were set to nudge down at the open on Tuesday after heavy losses on Wall Street, as investors continue to assess the impact of US President Trump's latest tariff threat.

The FTSE 100 was called to open around nine points lower, faring pretty well considering the heavy selloff seen in the US, where stocks were hit not only by Trump's tarriff announcement, but also by more worries about AI disruption.

DoorDash and American Express both fell sharply on the back of a research report by Citrini, which mentioned both companies as it outlined the potential AI risks to various industries.

IBM also took a hit after AI start-up Anthropic said its Claude Code can help modernise COBOL, a programming language mainly run on IBM computers.

Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote, said: "Markets on both sides of the Atlantic kicked off the week on a sour note, as Donald Trump's latest tariff shake-up offered little for businesses and investors to cheer.

"European carmakers were among the hardest hit after EU leaders decided to freeze ratification of the trade deal signed last summer. They want clarification on the proposed 15% global tariff - what it covers and how long it would last - before moving forward.

"The US President expressed frustration, but signing an agreement without fully understanding the details is not the European way. As a result, the deal risks unravelling before it is even implemented - a significant waste of time and political capital."

In UK corporate news, Asia and Africa-focused bank Standard Chartered reported a 16% rise in annual earnings on the back of a strong performance at its wealth management division.

Pre-tax profit came in at $6.96bn, compared with $6bn a year earlier and the $7.2bn forecast by analysts in a company-compiled poll. StanChart also unveiled a $1.5bn share buyback to start immediately.

Croda International posted a jump in annual sales and earnings despite the ongoing impact of US tariffs and wider geopolitical uncertainty.

The speciality chemicals group posted a 6.6% rise in sales in the year to December end, to �1.7bn, on a constant currency basis, while adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation were 7.1% stronger at �396.6m.

The blue chip said it was encouraged by the progress it had made during the year to grow earnings and returns, despite an "uncertain" trading environment.

Infrastructure group Balfour Beatty said chief financial officer Phil Harrison will step down from the board later this year after more than ten years in the role.

Harrison will remain a director of the company and continue to fulfil his current role until Myles Westcott, currently group financial controller at BAE Systems, succeeds him later in the year.