London stocks ended Tuesday firmly in the green after a choppy session, brushing aside US trade nerves and mixed economic signals.
The FTSE 100 rose 0.3% to close at 8,785.33. The FTSE 250 added 0.5% to 21,743.16, while the AIM All-Share gained 0.3% at 772.94.
Sainsbury dipped 1.1% despite reporting stronger-than-expected sales in its first quarter. Retail sales, excluding fuel, rose 4.9% year-on-year for the 16 weeks to June 21, ahead of the 3.6% growth analysts had forecast. Like-for-like sales excluding fuel increased 4.7%, also beating expectations. However, with no upgrade to guidance, shares slipped on the news.
National Grid and SSE extended gains after Ofgem’s £24 billion draft investment plan to overhaul gas networks lifted energy infrastructure sentiment.
Kitwave fell a further 22% as it warned that softening volumes in the leisure sector and rising employment costs would weigh on full-year profit. The food wholesaler cited fragile consumer confidence and said volatility in the macro backdrop was hitting demand more than expected.
Mpac Group shed 28% after flagging a sharp slowdown in order intake during the second quarter, particularly in its US operations. The packaging automation firm blamed market uncertainty linked to tariffs and weak consumer confidence, warning that full-year revenue would fall significantly short of expectations.
Wall Street was mixed by London’s close. The Dow rose 0.9%, but the S&P 500 slipped 0.2% and the Nasdaq fell 0.9% as investors digested conflicting US manufacturing data and fresh trade headlines.
S&P Global’s US manufacturing PMI rose to 52.9 in June from 52.0 in May, suggesting growth picked up modestly. However, the ISM’s separate gauge remained in contraction territory at 49.0, albeit up from May’s 48.5.
Pricing pressures persisted, with the ISM’s prices paid index climbing to 69.7, its highest since 2022, while tariffs continued to weigh on purchasing decisions and inventory strategies.
Separately, US job openings unexpectedly rose to 7.77 million in May, their highest level since November. Analysts were left puzzled, with Pantheon Macroeconomics noting the jump in vacancies seems at odds with other signs of labour market cooling.
Meanwhile, the Financial Times reported that the White House is retreating from its earlier plan to strike 90 trade deals during the 90-day tariff pause announced in April. Instead, President Trump’s team is reportedly focusing on smaller, piecemeal agreements.
Trump took to Truth Social to criticise Japan’s rice policy, writing: “They won’t take our RICE, and yet they have a massive rice shortage… In other words, we’ll just be sending them a letter.”