(Sharecast News) - London stocks edged higher in early trade on Wednesday even as Donald Trump ramped up his trade war rhetoric, threatening to impose 50% tariffs on copper and 200% tariffs on pharmaceuticals.
At 0835 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 0.2% at 8,867.98.
Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown, pointed out that copper and pharmaceuticals have traditionally been sheltered from import charges.
"The President also said that semiconductor tariffs will be announced soon," he said. "But details of when how and who remain thin on the ground," he said, adding that "confusion has become the new normal".
In equity markets, British American Tobacco and Imperial Brands were high risers as Jefferies reinstated coverage of the stocks at 'buy'.
Housebuilder Berkeley gained after an upgrade to 'outperform' from 'underperform' at RBC Capital Markets.
The housebuilding sector more broadly was in focus after seven companies agreed to collectively pay 100m to affordable housing programmes across the UK following an investigation by the competition regulator into pricing and buyer incentives.
Barratt Redrow, Bellway, Berkeley Group, Bloor Homes, Persimmon, Taylor Wimpey and Vistry have offered a package of commitments to address the Competition and Markets Authority's concerns, which includes a payment to fund hundreds of new homes - helping low-income households, first-time buyers and vulnerable people.
Genuit rallied after an upgrade to 'overweight' from 'neutral' at JPMorgan.
On the downside, heavily-weighted miners were the biggest losers on the FTSE 100 on the back of Trump's copper tariff threat, with Antofagasta, Glencore and Anglo American all sharply lower.
Advertising agency WPP tumbled after it slashed annual profit forecasts as it failed to win new clients amid a weakening economic outlook and the growing threat from artificial intelligence.
The company said it expected full-year organic revenue less pass-through costs - a main measure of its performance - to fall by 3-5% with a decline in operating margin of 50 to 175 basis points. Second-quarter revenue fell more than expected as clients cut back on spending and job loss costs fed through.
Prior guidance was for flat to down 2%, with a flat headline operating profit margin. Advertising agencies face growing competition from AI, which allows companies to design their own marketing campaigns for a fraction of the cost.
Close Brothers slid after saying it would scale back its emphasis on personal lines insurance premium finance to focus on commercial lines insurance.
Zigup - formerly Redde Northgate - lost ground as it posted a slump in full-year profits but insisted there were "good opportunities" ahead.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 8,867.98 0.16%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 21,583.89 0.01%
techMARK (TASX) 5,122.61 0.11%
FTSE 100 - Risers
British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,607.00p 2.24%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,120.00p 1.82%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 2,895.00p 1.72%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 1,113.00p 1.55%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 979.00p 1.30%
Airtel Africa (AAF) 186.20p 1.25%
Games Workshop Group (GAW) 16,090.00p 1.00%
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 251.50p 0.84%
Barclays (BARC) 337.20p 0.76%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 76.22p 0.74%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
WPP (WPP) 459.10p -12.98%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,863.50p -2.92%
easyJet (EZJ) 524.20p -2.75%
Glencore (GLEN) 299.00p -2.42%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,180.00p -2.02%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 87.32p -1.24%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 339.00p -1.17%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 4,665.00p -0.96%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 111.65p -0.80%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 333.30p -0.77%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Genuit Group (GEN) 397.00p 4.89%
Petershill Partners (PHLL) 240.00p 4.35%
W.A.G Payment Solutions (WPS) 82.60p 2.74%
Pennon Group (PNN) 492.80p 2.62%
Bytes Technology Group (BYIT) 363.40p 1.79%
Chemring Group (CHG) 569.00p 1.79%
Ithaca Energy (ITH) 162.80p 1.62%
Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 352.50p 1.59%
Plus500 Ltd (DI) (PLUS) 3,218.00p 1.51%
SDCL Efficiency Income Trust (SEIT) 57.50p 1.41%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Close Brothers Group (CBG) 381.40p -7.25%
Zigup (ZIG) 348.50p -3.60%
Future (FUTR) 719.50p -3.23%
Bodycote (BOY) 598.50p -2.21%
Bellway (BWY) 2,590.00p -1.82%
Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 366.60p -1.72%
Chrysalis Investments Limited NPV (CHRY) 106.00p -1.49%
HarbourVest Global Private Equity Limited A Shs (HVPE) 2,480.00p -1.39%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,217.50p -1.34%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 265.80p -1.34%
34.54 (0.38%)
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