London stocks ended Tuesday in the green, helped along by cooling trade tensions and a dose of resilience from US consumer data.
The FTSE 100 climbed 0.5% to finish at 8,854.18, with the FTSE 250 up 0.2% and the AIM All-Share rising 0.5%.
Markets appeared relieved after US President Trump’s new August 1 tariff deadline gave investors a bit more breathing room. Among the countries in the crosshairs is South Africa, now scrambling to negotiate softer terms.
Glencore was one of the day’s top performers, rising 2.7%. JPMorgan turned bullish on the miner, flagging a copper-led rebound in production and predicting a sharp jump in earnings over the next two years.
Victrex dropped another 8.4% after flagging ongoing currency headwinds and weaker-than-expected medical sales. Unite Group dipped 0.5% despite reiterating full-year earnings guidance, while Celebrus Technologies shot up 22% on AIM after delivering a rise in recurring revenue and a bigger dividend.
Away from the markets, the Office for Budget Responsibility warned that public finances remain on shaky ground. Speaking in Liverpool, OBR chair Richard Hughes said the triple lock on pensions and long-term demographic pressures are pushing the UK’s fiscal outlook into “unsustainable” territory.
Across the Channel, European indices ended higher, with Paris and Frankfurt each gaining around 0.5%. In New York, Wall Street opened on the back foot.