Daily Market Update: GSK and Barclays impress with results, Glencore disappoints

“The FTSE 100 held firm as corporate results came thick and fast”, says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.

“GSK’s upbeat tone helped to lift the broader pharma sector while Barclays’ results pleased the market.

“Acting as an anchor to the UK index was Glencore which fell after issuing weak first-quarter production numbers. The mining and trading company is highly leveraged to the direction of commodities and concerns about the global economy have weighed on metal and energy prices. Therefore, Glencore producing fewer goods in a weaker pricing environment results in a double blow to its profits.

“Investors are looking closely at commentary on how businesses will be impacted by tariffs and we’re starting to get the first insights. Some businesses have withdrawn earnings guidance while they try to get their head around the potential impact, while others are now putting out initial estimates.

“Smith & Nephew said it would incur a $15 million to $20 million hit this year. Tariffs aren’t simply a recipe for weaker demand, they also threaten to cause considerable disruption to day-to-day operations such as changes to supply chains and moving production to different factories. They’re a headache to everyone involved.”

Marks & Spencer

“Shares in Marks & Spencer have gone up for the second day in a row, suggesting that investors are confident it can sort out disruption to systems from a cyber-attack and that too much bad news has been priced into the stock.

“The company hasn’t taken any online orders for the past five days which could add up to a significant number of lost sales.

“Its reputation may also have been damaged as shoppers worry if their details have been stolen by hackers and whether it is still safe to use cards in-store.

“The fact the disruption is still unresolved would suggest that management are being incredibly thorough behind the scenes to ensure everything is secure before switching online platforms back on.”

Barclays

“In the past, Barclays has drawn fire for its investment banking division and its role within the group has been heavily questioned. This part of the business shone in the first quarter as increased market volatility provided its trading operations with a major boost.

“Given said volatility has only picked up since the end of March, there is a good chance this could continue to provide Barclays with a tailwind in the current quarter too – though like the markets, this remains an unpredictable factor.

“Happily, for Barclays, other parts of the business are also performing well – bar US consumer banking where the company has taken some extra provisions, hinting at potentially increased risks across the Atlantic.

“The bank has upgraded its net interest income guidance despite the uncertain outlook for interest rates, which has a positive read across for UK-focused peers Lloyds and NatWest, and the company is sticking with its plan to return £10 billion to shareholders between 2024 and 2026.

“Three-and-a-half years since his appointment, chief executive C. S. Venkatakrishnan’s plan for the business seems to be on track although the market will be keeping a close eye on bad debt provisions to see if these are affected by the broader macro-economic uncertainty.”

GSK

“GSK continues to perform like a cyclist who hasn’t evenly distributed their weight. The lopsided performance is the result of strength in specialty medicines, a stable turn from general medicines and ongoing weakness in vaccines. Fortunately, for GSK, the vaccines struggle hasn’t caused the machine to topple over and the company is still achieving overall growth in margins and profits.

“Big pharma’s success is based as much on the products sold as developing tomorrow’s treatments. On this basis, GSK says it expects approval for five major products this year and significantly more over the next six years. Clearly it still needs to nurse the vaccines arm back to full health, but otherwise the business is ploughing ahead.

“The key concern near-term is how tariffs might impact GSK. Pharmaceutical products were originally spared from the list of goods on the Liberation Day hit list, but Trump has since told the industry to effectively brace themselves for new levies. GSK has seemingly shrugged off the threat of tariffs, saying it has options regarding supply chains and production. That will be reassuring to investors.”

Automotive industry

“Donald Trump may have given the automotive industry some respite with news of cuts to tariffs and rebates for cars assembled in the US, but the pain carmakers are feeling is already evident.

“General Motors has become the latest name in the sector to withdraw guidance and its European counterpart Mercedes followed suit. Volkswagen has warned returns will be at the lower end of guidance after reporting a big drop in profit for the first three months of the year.

“Aston Martin announced plans to limit deliveries to the US thanks to the import levies as the company’s losses mounted in the first quarter. Aston Martin continues to burn through cash as it looks to execute on its turnaround programme amid considerable uncertainty.

“The difficulty for the automotive space is tariffs have been ladled on top of an existing soup of problems which were already proving difficult to digest.

“The uncertain pace of the transition to electric vehicles, partly driven by regulation, is affecting companies’ ability to make long-term plans. Demand has been affected by weak consumer confidence and pressures on household finances over several years as well as supply chain issues.

“Further consolidation seems likely as firms look to steer a course through a set of challenges which look as daunting as facing Spaghetti Junction at rush hour.”

Taylor Wimpey

“While there were some positive elements of Taylor Wimpey’s trading update, the market will likely focus on the warning of continued margin pressures.

“It suffered from lower priced sales at the start of the year and it also shows the impact on the business of a lacklustre UK housing market and continued increases in build costs.

“What will be causing a bit of disquiet is some of Taylor Wimpey’s peers have signalled an improvement in profitability.

“Taylor Wimpey has been held back by having fewer outlets in operation than in 2024 – though this is expected to be addressed in the remainder of 2025.

“These headwinds are overshadowing some reassuring noises from the company about sales rates and demand – with limited evidence the global economic uncertainty is having an impact on buyers.

“Figures from Nationwide offer some evidence that house price growth has softened as stamp duty discounts became less generous.”

These articles are for information purposes only and are not a personal recommendation or advice.