(Sharecast News) - London stocks had turned positive by midday on Friday, outperforming European peers amid hopes the UK will be able to reach a favourable trade deal with the US.
The FTSE 100 was up 0.3% at 8,782.56, reversing earlier losses.
European stocks were not faring as well, with Germany's DAX and the benchmark Stoxx 600 both down 0.3% - albeit off earlier lows - after US president Donald Trump said on Thursday that the US would apply 25% tariffs on imports from the EU. He said these would apply "to cars and all others things" and would be announced very soon.
It appeared that investors were a little more hopeful for the UK, however, after Trump said following a meeting with Keir Starmer that "a real trade deal" between the two nations could occur "very quickly" and that the UK could potentially avoid the tariffs being threatened on the EU, China, Canada and Mexico.
Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, said: "President Trump has ramped up tariff threats this week. There will be another 10% levy imposed on Chinese imports to the US, and 25% tariffs will be imposed on Mexico and Canada on 4th March. He did not stop there, reciprocal tariffs will come into effect on 2nd April and the EU is also likely to be hit by 25% tariffs, after the President used inflammatory language when talking about the bloc earlier this week.
"For now, the only country that seems to be out of Trump's tariff scope is the UK."
Investors were also mulling the latest data from mortgage lender Nationwide, which showed that house prices rose more than expected in February.
Prices were up 0.4% on the month following a 0.1% increase in January, beating expectations for a 0.2% jump. On the year, house prices rose 3.9% in February, down from 4.1% the month before.
The average price of a home stood at 270,493, up from 268,213.
Nationwide chief economist Robert Gardner said housing market activity has remained resilient in recent months, despite ongoing affordability challenges.
"Indeed, the second half of 2024 saw a noticeable pick up in total housing transactions, which were up 14% compared with the same period in 2023," he said. "However, taking 2024 as a whole, transactions were still modestly (6%) lower than the levels prevailing before the pandemic struck in 2019.
"In terms of the pattern of transactions, it is notable that first-time buyer activity continued to recover, with mortgage completions in 2024 just 5% below 2019 levels. This represents a solid performance, given the interest rate environment - for example, five-year fixed mortgage rates are currently around 4.4% (for borrowers with a 25% deposit) compared to c2% in 2019.
"Cash transactions remained particularly robust, with activity 2% above pre-pandemic levels."
Gardner said changes to stamp duty at the start of April are likely to generate volatility in transactions in the near term, as buyers bring forward their purchases to avoid the additional tax.
"This will likely lead to a jump in transactions in March, and a corresponding period of weakness in the following months, as occurred in the wake of previous stamp duty changes."
In equity markets, IMI was the top riser as it hailed record full-year profits and announced a further 200m share buyback.
British Airways owner IAG flew higher as it reported a better-than-expected jump in annual profits after doubling earnings in the final quarter, driven by "robust" leisure travel and said it planned to return a further 1bn to shareholders.
Adjusted operating profit rose 26% to 4.4bn, beating estimates of 4.08bn.
Weir Group gained after full-year results, as it struck an upbeat note about the outlook and announced the acquisition of mining software solutions firm Micromine for 657m.
Pearson gained as the education publisher said annual profit rose 10% and unveiled a 350m share buyback as it reiterated guidance for 2025.
Property portal Rightmove advanced as it reported a rise in full-year revenue and operating profit and lifted its dividend as it said housing market activity gradually improved throughout the year.
On the downside, Morgan Advanced Materials tumbled as it said demand in a number of its end-markets was uncertain and that it expects a mid single-digit organic revenue decline in 2025 and assumes no recovery in the second half.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 8,782.56 0.30%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,333.83 -0.40%
techMARK (TASX) 4,762.44 0.45%
FTSE 100 - Risers
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 357.00p 5.40%
IMI (IMI) 1,990.00p 5.18%
Haleon (HLN) 398.60p 4.24%
Weir Group (WEIR) 2,382.00p 4.20%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,188.00p 3.26%
Rightmove (RMV) 663.80p 3.20%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 752.40p 2.84%
Croda International (CRDA) 3,311.00p 2.00%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,656.00p 1.90%
SSE (SSE) 1,516.00p 1.74%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Smurfit Westrock (DI) (SWR) 4,075.00p -3.30%
St James's Place (STJ) 1,068.00p -2.73%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 1,036.50p -2.72%
Fresnillo (FRES) 736.50p -2.00%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,749.00p -1.58%
WPP (WPP) 635.20p -1.55%
3i Group (III) 3,944.00p -1.55%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICG) 2,256.00p -1.40%
Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 21,530.00p -1.28%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 3,368.00p -1.23%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 37.56p 4.62%
Genus (GNS) 1,814.00p 3.66%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 675.00p 2.04%
Bellway (BWY) 2,336.00p 1.65%
Tritax Big Box Reit (BBOX) 146.00p 1.60%
Vistry Group (VTY) 609.50p 1.58%
Diversified Energy Company (DEC) 1,067.00p 1.52%
Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 155.50p 1.44%
Genuit Group (GEN) 357.50p 1.42%
Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) 110.40p 1.38%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Morgan Advanced Materials (MGAM) 211.50p -17.38%
Me Group International (MEGP) 196.60p -10.64%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 257.20p -5.79%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 80.90p -4.82%
Dr. Martens (DOCS) 65.20p -4.82%
RHI Magnesita N.V. (DI) (RHIM) 3,330.00p -4.17%
Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 257.00p -3.93%
Allianz Technology Trust (ATT) 401.00p -3.37%
Bloomsbury Publishing (BMY) 602.00p -2.59%
Indivior (INDV) 682.50p -2.50%
53.53 (0.61%)
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