Stock prices in London, Paris and Frankfurt opened in the green on Tuesday, as investors remained vigilant on any further tariff announcements from or against the US.
The FTSE 100 index opened up 112.23 points, 1.5%, at 7,814.31. The FTSE 250 was up 264.87 points, 1.5%, at 18,030.06, and the AIM All-Share was up 10.35 points, 1.7%, at 634.77.
The Cboe UK 100 was up 1.4% at 777.49, the Cboe UK 250 was up 1.3% at 15,665.13, and the Cboe Small Companies was up 0.1% at 14,538.24.
Rolls-Royce was the biggest large-cap winner, rising 4.7%. BT Group led the laggers, down 2.7%.
JPMorgan Japanese Investment Trust led the FTSE 250, up 6.4%. At the other end, JTC was 4.0% lower.
The Jersey-based professional services company increased its total dividend by 12% and revenue for 2024 rose 19% to £305.4 million. However, it swung to a pretax loss of £7.4 million against the prior year’s £24.3 million profit.
Thor Explorations was near the top of AIM, rising 16%.
The West Africa-focused gold producer said 2024 net profit surged to $91.1 million from $10.8 million in 2023. Revenue increased to $193.1 million from $141.2 million.
Thor also announced its maiden dividend payment, and committed to a dividend policy of at least 1.25 Canadian cents per share per quarter.
Belluscura fell 45% on AIM.
The medical device developer withdrew its previous market guidance for 2025 due to the US administration’s proposed imposition of tariffs on imports.
Belluscura highlighted that a ‘significant proportion’ of its portable oxygen concentrators, raw materials and component parts are made in China. They are facing a 54% tariff when imported to the US.
In European equities on Tuesday, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 1.5%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was up 1.4%.
The pound was quoted at $1.2756 early on Tuesday in London, lower compared to $1.2931 at the equities close on Monday. The euro stood at $1.0941, down against $1.0994. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JP¥147.16, higher compared to JP¥145.80.
In the US on Monday, Wall Street ended mixed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.9%, the S&P 500 down 0.2% and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.1%.
In Asia on Tuesday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo was up 6.0%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was up 1.6%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was up 1.4%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed up 2.3%.
China vowed on Tuesday to ‘fight to the end’ against fresh tariffs of 50% threatened by US President Donald Trump, further aggravating a trade war that has already wiped trillions off global markets.
China swiftly hit back, blasting what it called ‘blackmailing’ by the US and saying it would ‘never accept’ those tariffs.
‘If the US insists on going its own way, China will fight it to the end,’ a spokesperson for Beijing’s commerce ministry said on Tuesday.
Brent oil was quoted at $63.93 a barrel early in London on Tuesday, down from $65.38 late Monday.
Gold was quoted lower at $3,006.41 an ounce against $3,025.91.
Still to come on Tuesday’s economic calendar is the US Redbook index read.
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