Stocks in London and Paris opened in the red on Thursday, but not as red as Frankfurt stocks, after US President Donald Trump announced new tariffs on imported cars and parts.
The FTSE 100 index opened down 57.27 points, 0.7%, at 8,632.25. The FTSE 250 was down 74.92 points, 0.4%, at 19,964.40, and the AIM All-Share was just 0.29 points at 694.10.
The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.7% at 862.23, the Cboe UK 250 was 0.4% lower at 17,438.09, and the Cboe Small Companies was 0.6% higher at 15,640.40.
In European equities on Thursday, the CAC 40 in Paris was down 0.8%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was down 1.2%.
The Office for Budget Responsibility on Wednesday halved its 2025 growth forecast for the UK economy to 1%.
Lower-income households in the UK are forecast to become £500 a year poorer over the next five years as a result of the chancellor’s spring statement, according to the Resolution Foundation think tank.
Rachel Reeves has received criticism from unions and political opponents after she cut welfare and squeezed Whitehall budgets in her spring statement, with some three million families on incapacity benefits expected to be hit by the changes.
An estimated 250,000 more people, including 50,000 children, will be left in relative poverty after housing costs by the end of the decade as a result of the government’s squeeze on welfare, according to its own impact assessment.
The changes will affect about three million families on incapacity benefits, while 800,000 claimants will have reduced personal independence payments, Pip.
In the US on Wednesday, Wall Street ended lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.3%, the S&P 500 fading 1.1% and the Nasdaq Composite slipping 2.0%.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq was hurt by both Nvidia and Tesla slipping more than 5% on Wednesday. A further downturn is expected on Thursday, following a Chinese regulator decision to exclude Nvidia’s H20 chip from a list of environmentally friendly microchips for data centres.
The US has announced a 25% tariffs on cars imported into the US in a bid to boost the domestic auto industry, which will go into effect on April 2 and apply to all cars not made in the US. This means even US manufacturers with models made overseas would be hurt under the scheme.
The UK is not planning ‘at the moment’ to introduce retaliatory tariffs on the US, Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said.
Aston Martin on Wednesday morning slipped 5.8%, Tesla was down 1.7% in pre-market trade in New York and Volkswagen in Frankfurt opened 2.8% lower.
In Asia on Thursday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo was down 0.6%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was up 0.2%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was 0.4% higher. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed down 0.4%
Retailer Next led the FTSE 100 at London’s market open on Thursday, up 8.2%.
Next reported pretax profit decline of 3.2% for the year that ended January 25, to £987.0 million from £1.02 billion. Revenue, on the other hand, grew 11% to £6.12 billion from £5.49 billion.
Distribution costs rose 11% to £878.8 million from £794.1 million, administrative expenses increased 2.0% to £670.6 million from £657.7 million, while finance costs were up 10% to £96.6 million from £87.5 million. The lower net margin was due in part to the rise in national insurance, the company noted.
The clothing and homewares seller proposed a final dividend of 158 pence per share, up 12% on-year from 141p, bringing the total dividend for the year up 13% to 233p from 207p. Next also said it intends to return £316 million in surplus cash to shareholders via buybacks.
Next anticipates a 0.5% fall in like-for-like sales in its Retail arm for the year ahead, too.
Mobile Streams was also one of Wednesday’s winners on AIM, up 20%.
The mobile gaming content provider notes the launch of online casino and sportsbook business Estadio Gana in Mexico. Mobile Streams currently holds a 29.94% stake in Estadio Gana.
On the other end, ADVFN tumbles 50% as it proposes delisting.
‘The board believes the disadvantages associated with maintaining the admission of the Ordinary Shares to trading to be disproportionately high when compared to the perceived benefits of being quoted on AIM,’ the firm explained.
Shareholder approval for the cancellation will be sought at a general meeting on April 25.
The provider of global stock market information to private investors reported a narrowed pretax loss of £453,000 for the six months that ended December 31, from a restated £532,000 loss. Revenue declined 13% to £2.0 million from £2.3 million and administrative expenses reduced 11% to £2.5 million from £2.8 million.
Educational software and services provider Tribal Group was down 8.8%.
Tribal’s pretax profit fell 11% to £5.9 million in 2024 from £6.6 million in 2023, despite revenue growing 5.0% to £90.0 million from £85.7 million. Exceptional items reached £5.6 million in costs for the year, against £3.3 million a year prior.
Tribal proposed a final dividend of 0.65p per share, bringing the total dividend for 2024 to 1.3p.
The pound was quoted up at $1.2923 early on Thursday in London, compared to $1.2894 at the equities close on Wednesday. The euro stood lower at $1.0775, against $1.0788.
Against the yen, the dollar was trading up at JP¥150.56 compared to JP¥150.53.
Brent oil was quoted lower at $72.80 a barrel early in London on Thursday from $73.95 late Wednesday.
Gold was quoted higher at $3,036.76 an ounce against $3,018.09.
Still to come on Thursday’s economic calendar, US initial jobless claims, quarterly personal consumption expenditures and GDP figures at 1230 GMT.
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