Stocks in London, Paris and Frankfurt were in the red at midday on Thursday, after Russia launched an overnight attack on Kyiv, while investors await US durable goods and jobless data.
The FTSE 100 index was down 8.00 points, 0.1%, at 8,395.18. The FTSE 250 was down 29.26 points, 0.2%, at 19,453.79, and the AIM All-Share was down 5.54 points, 0.8%, at 670.94.
The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.1% at 835.42, the Cboe UK 250 was broadly flat at 17,004.02, and the Cboe Small Companies was up 0.5% at 15,392.40.
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves has travelled to the US capital for the International Monetary Fund’s spring meetings of G7 and G20 finance ministers.
She is also expected to meet US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Friday in an attempt to make progress on negotiations for a UK-US economic deal aimed at mitigating the impact of tariffs announced by Trump earlier this month.
In European equities on Thursday, the CAC 40 in Paris faded 0.4%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt slipped 0.3%.
Germany’s business climate index rose against expectations in April, survey results published by the Munich-based ifo institute showed Thursday.
The ifo business climate index improved to 86.9 points in April from 86.7 points in March, beating FXStreet-cited market expectations of a fall to 85.2 points.
The seasonally-adjusted index takes the year 2015 as comparative, with a figure of 100 indicating the index being the same as that year, with figures below indicating the sentiment being worse than in 2015.
The pound was quoted higher at $1.3315 at midday on Thursday in London, compared to $1.3274 at the equities close on Wednesday. The euro also stood higher, at $1.1388, against $1.1367.
Against the yen, the dollar was trading slightly lower at JP¥142.39 compared to JP¥142.42.
Metals One gained 22% around midday on Thursday.
The developer of metals projects in Finland and Norway has conditionally agreed to acquire the Squaw Creek uranium project and the Uraven Belt uranium-vanadium project, in Wyoming and Colorado respectively. The acquisition of 112 claims in historic uranium-producing regions marks the company’s first North American assets, targeting critical minerals essential to US clean energy generation, grid storage and energy security.
Metals One will purchase the claims from 1491434 BC Ltd, a company incorporated in British Columbia, for $100,000 in cash and the issue of 1.0 million new Metals One shares at a 5% discount to the average share price in the five days before signing the deal’s term sheet. Metals One has been granted a 30-day exclusivity period for the proposed acquisition.
Eco Animal Health was up 13%.
The London-based biotechnology firm expects to report adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation for its financial year that ended March 31 ‘marginally’ ahead of expectations, citing a company-compiled market consensus of £7.2 million. It delivered £8.0 million in adjusted Ebitda the prior year. Market consensus for full-year revenue is £85.3 million, down 4.6% from £89.4 million the year before.
The firm said results were in spite of a ‘volatile market backdrop’.
‘We will continue to maintain this robust approach to protecting margins and remain vigilant in monitoring the macroeconomic outlook in an environment dominated by uncertainty, but we remain optimistic, particularly around the opportunities offered by our [research and development] pipeline, specifically our new vaccines portfolio, to drive meaningful value in the months and years ahead,’ said Chief Executive Officer David Hallas.
At the other end, Inchcape was one of the FTSE 250’s biggest losers, down 5.1%.
The London-based car dealer said revenue was down 5% at constant currency at £2.1 billion in the first quarter. New vehicle volumes were down 3%. The decline in revenue was expected and reflected mixed market momentum and tough comparators, Inchcape said.
The company noted that headwinds continued in several key markets in the Asia Pacific, while in Europe & Africa, lower revenues were driven by order bank unwind. In the Americas, the company saw continued improvement in performance with further growth.
Inchcape remains ‘fully focused’ on exceeding its targeted 10% earnings per share compound annual growth rate over the medium term.
The company reaffirmed its guidance for 2025, excluding potential impacts from the evolving tariff situation. It said that latest data suggested demand was not yet being impacted beyond usual trends.
It added that the current market environment was ‘uncertain’ amid the ‘dynamic and complex tariff situation’.
Stocks in New York were called lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was called down 0.6%, the S&P 500 index 0.5% lower, and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.5%.
‘While markets have been fired up in recent days amid expectations for Donald Trump to backtrack on more tariffs, investors know what he says and what he does aren’t always the same thing. It now feels like markets want solid evidence of Trump taking a more softly-softly approach before shares can rally further,’ said AJ Bell analyst Russ Mould.
Beijing said on Thursday any claims of ongoing trade talks with Washington were ‘groundless’ after US President Donald Trump played up the prospects of a deal to lower hefty tariffs he imposed on China.
The tariff blitz which Trump says is retaliation for unfair trade practices, as well as a bid to restore US manufacturing prowess has rattled markets and raised fears of a global recession.
Beijing denied Trump’s claim that negotiations were being conducted daily.
‘As the competent department for foreign economic and trade relations, I would like to emphasise that there are currently no economic and trade negotiations between China and the US,’ Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesman He Yadong told a news conference.
‘Any claims about the progress of China-US economic and trade negotiations are groundless and have no factual basis,’ he said.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin said Thursday it agreed with US President Donald Trump who said on social media that Ukraine had ‘lost years ago’ the Crimean peninsula seized by Russia in 2014.
‘This completely corresponds with our understanding, which we have been saying for a long time,’ spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in response to an AFP question. Ukraine has repeatedly said it will not cede Crimea under any peace settlement with Moscow.
Trump on Wednesday said a deal to halt the Ukraine war was ‘very close’, but had hit out at Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky over his refusal to formally cede Crimea to Russia. Trump’s comments came as Vice President JD Vance warned that the US would ‘walk away’ unless Russia and Ukraine agree on a peace deal.
Zelensky told journalists this week that Crimea was Ukrainian territory and recognising it as Russian ‘is against our constitution’.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Thursday that Russia’s recent attack on Kyiv showed Moscow was blocking peace efforts. Russia targeted Ukraine’s defence industry, including plants that produced ‘rocket fuel and gunpowder’, in overnight strikes that Kyiv says killed at least eight people.
‘While claiming to seek peace, Russia launched a deadly airstrike on Kyiv. This isn’t a pursuit of peace, it’s a mockery of it,’ Kallas wrote on X. ‘The real obstacle is not Ukraine but Russia, whose war aims have not changed.’
Brent oil was quoted down at $65.63 a barrel at midday in London on Thursday from $65.74 late Wednesday.
Gold began to rebound, quoted up at $3,300.96 an ounce against $3,273.46.
Still to come on Thursday’s economic calendar, US durable goods orders data and the weekly jobless claims report.
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