(Alliance News) – Stock prices in London opened higher on Thursday, as investors digest the latest developments in US President Donald Trump’s trade war with China.
Trump paused new tariffs on most countries but doubled down on China, raising tariffs on the world’s second-largest economy to 125%.
Meanwhile in the UK, Downing Street said that the UK will “coolly and calmly” continue its negotiations after Trump announced the 90-day pause on the levies.
The precise details were not immediately clear, but the US treasury secretary has said Trump will keep his 10% baseline tariffs on most countries. It is understood that this does not mean any immediate change for the UK.
A Downing Street source said the development shows that “cool and calm can pay off” and that the way Prime Minister Keir Starmer “does business” is the “right approach”.
The FTSE 100 index opened up 418.12 points, 5.4%, at 8,097.60. The FTSE 250 was up 1,016.52 points, 5.7%, at 18,907.16, and the AIM All-Share was up 28.43 points, 4.5%, at 655.44.
The Cboe UK 100 was up 5.6% at 807.26, the Cboe UK 250 was up 5.5% at 16,367.13, and the Cboe Small Companies was flat at 14,353.63.
On the FTSE 100, Anglo American jumped 10%.
The London-based diversified miner reassured that it continues to work with Peabody Energy to conclude the sale of its Grosvenor mine in Australia, following a “minor ignition”.
Anglo American said it is making progress in relation to the temporary suspension of mining operations at the Moranbah North mine following what it believes to have been a minor ignition in the underground area of the mine on March 31.
On the FTSE 250, housebuilder Vistry climbed 8.3%.
The Kent, England-based firm’s Chief Strategy Officer Mike Woolliscroft acquired 18,784 shares at GBP5.30 on Wednesday.
Among smaller caps, Rank Group was 6.9% higher.
The gambling company released a trading update, saying that group like-for-like net gaming revenue grew 10.9% in the third quarter to GBP195.6 million.
CEO John O’Reilly noted: “Since announcing our interim results in January, we have continued to deliver strong growth and expect to deliver group like-for-like operating profit for the full year in line with expectations.”
On AIM, Verici Dx soared 60%.
The developer of advanced clinical diagnostics for organ transplant announced a positive technical assessment by Medicare administrative contractor Palmetto GBA.
This secures Medicare coverage for Tutivia in the US. Tutivia is a post kidney transplant blood test that reports the patient’s risk of all forms of acute rejection, including borderline, T cell-mediated, and antibody-mediated rejections.
In European equities on Thursday, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 6.3%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was up 8.1%.
The pound was quoted at USD1.2869 early on Thursday in London, higher compared to USD1.2786 at the equities close on Wednesday. The euro stood lower at USD1.1012, against USD1.1060. Against the yen, the dollar was trading higher at JPY146.48 compared to JPY144.86.
In Asia on Thursday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo was up 9.1%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was up 1.2%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was up 2.4%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed up 4.5%.
In the US on Wednesday, Wall Street ended higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 7.9%, the S&P 500 up 9.5% and the Nasdaq Composite up 12%.
Brent oil was quoted higher at USD63.91 a barrel early in London on Thursday from USD60.41 late Wednesday.
Gold was quoted higher at USD3,113.58 an ounce against USD3,085.53.
Still to come on Thursday’s economic calendar, there is consumer price inflation data from Ireland and the US, plus US jobless data.
By Emma Curzon, Alliance News reporter
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