London midday: Stocks tick higher as tariff saga rumbles on

(Sharecast News) - London stocks had ticked higher by midday on Tuesday as investors continued to navigate the latest developments in Trump's tariff saga after the US President issued letters to key trading partners.

The FTSE 100 was up 0.2% at 8,822.61.

Neil Wilson, UK investor strategist at Saxo Markets, said: "Wall Street fell on Monday as US President Donald Trump sent letters imposing 25% tariffs on key trading partners, including Japan and South Korea, due to take effect on 1 August.

"Additional tariffs of 25%-40% were imposed on 14 countries, including South Africa and Thailand. Nothing has really changed - the real headline should be 'Trump extends trade truce' but retains enough stick to dangle the carrot effectively.

"As far as these tariff letters go, it's unclear what is all that different from April. The only thing that seems different is the deadline - it's been pushed back, again.

"So, of course, TACO - Trump said he was open to additional negotiations and that the new later deadline was 'not 100% firm', indicating he would look favourably on countries offering concessions. This is always the playbook so the market can overlook the theatrics."

Wilson pointed to the fact that US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC that "several" trade deal announcements were likely in next 48 hours. "So far though, no deals, only letters," said Wilson.

In equity markets, Ladbrokes owner Entain shot to the top of the FTSE 100 after an upgrade to 'buy' at Bank of America. The bank, which hiked its price target on the stock to 1,100p from 880p, cited a bullish view on BetMGM and strength of iGaming trends.

Glencore was also in the black as JPMorgan Cazenove moved the stock to 'overweight' from 'not rated'.

Close Brothers was the top performer on the FTSE 100 ahead of the motor finance ruling, which is due at some point this month.

On the downside, specialist polymer maker Victrex tumbled as it 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 fell as it reiterated its FY25 guidance for adjusted EPRA earnings per share of 47.5p to 48.25p, saying it had seen "continuing momentum", with 85% of beds sold for the 2025/26 academic year.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 8,822.61 0.18%

FTSE 250 (MCX) 21,541.93 0.02%

techMARK (TASX) 5,101.61 0.06%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Entain (ENT) 941.80p 3.47%

Schroders (SDR) 378.00p 2.66%

Glencore (GLEN) 305.15p 2.43%

Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,244.00p 2.01%

St James's Place (STJ) 1,195.00p 1.96%

Fresnillo (FRES) 1,517.00p 1.88%

International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 361.10p 1.78%

Prudential (PRU) 914.60p 1.55%

Airtel Africa (AAF) 183.30p 1.44%

easyJet (EZJ) 538.80p 1.35%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Rentokil Initial (RTO) 344.10p -2.30%

Convatec Group (CTEC) 258.20p -1.97%

Barratt Redrow (BTRW) 413.70p -1.62%

Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 3,942.00p -1.60%

Severn Trent (SVT) 2,632.00p -1.46%

United Utilities Group (UU.) 1,088.50p -1.45%

LondonMetric Property (LMP) 195.00p -1.42%

Land Securities Group (LAND) 591.00p -1.34%

Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,094.50p -1.31%

National Grid (NG.) 1,022.00p -1.30%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Close Brothers Group (CBG) 408.80p 7.92%

Hochschild Mining (HOC) 282.00p 4.37%

Future (FUTR) 753.00p 3.79%

XPS Pensions Group (XPS) 378.50p 3.70%

NCC Group (NCC) 149.00p 3.33%

Ithaca Energy (ITH) 158.80p 3.25%

TP Icap Group (TCAP) 293.50p 3.16%

Ashmore Group (ASHM) 163.00p 2.71%

Jupiter Fund Management (JUP) 106.20p 2.71%

OSB Group (OSB) 549.00p 2.52%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Victrex plc (VCT) 729.00p -7.25%

Plus500 Ltd (DI) (PLUS) 3,194.00p -3.21%

Ocado Group (OCDO) 229.00p -2.22%

W.A.G Payment Solutions (WPS) 82.40p -1.90%

Vistry Group (VTY) 603.20p -1.89%

Great Portland Estates (GPE) 339.00p -1.74%

Tritax Big Box Reit (BBOX) 142.50p -1.72%

Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,235.00p -1.67%

WH Smith (SMWH) 1,069.00p -1.66%

British Land Company (BLND) 355.20p -1.61%