London markets held steady on Thursday, continuing its recovery from April’s turbulence continuing as stocks were climbing in the US.
Many markets in Europe, including Euronext Dublin, were closed for the May Day holiday, so the pan-European Stoxx 600 index was flat.
LONDON
The export-heavy index was little changed by the close after advancing for 13 straight sessions. It clawed back losses from earlier in the day to gain 0.02 per cent, to close at 8,496.8.
“We expect tariff talk to ramp up again even if a deal emerges from this 90-day pause,” said Panmure Liberum strategist Susana Cruz. “So the recovery and European growth might remain capped.” She added that the FTSE 100 should continue to outperform, given its focus on income and quality stocks.
A mixture of shares in the index were making gains, including housebuilders and financial services firms, while Marks & Spencer was dragging on the index.
The UK retailer is continuing to recover from a cyber security attack last week, which has forced it to pause online orders and stop hiring, as it works to resolve problems in its systems.
The UK’s blue chip index has been on a winning streak with two straight weeks of gains – its longest run in eight years. It was teetering on the edge of ending this streak with a downturn during the day, but was given a late lift as stock markets opened higher in the US.
Rolls-Royce told shareholders it has had a “strong start” to the year and expects to mitigate the impact of US tariffs, and shares rose 1.7 per cent.
The engineering giant said it was on track to deliver between £2.7 billion and £2.9 billion of underlying operating profit for 2025. It also said it was closely monitoring the impact of inflation and a wider economic slowdown on demand for its products.
Lloyds Banking Group reported a fall in profits for the first quarter of the year, compared with 2024, as it set aside more money for bad debts
The banking group disclosed £309 million of impairment charges, up from £57 million a year ago, including £100 million for potential borrower defaults. Shares in the lender were 2.7 per cent lower at close.
London-listed Haleon, which has a large plant in Waterford, was up 3.27 per cent in trading to 388.7 pence after adjusted its forecast profits higher than expected due to increased demand.
The biggest risers on the index were St James’s Place, Whitbread, Polar Capital Technology Trust, Informa, and EasyJet. The losers of note were Lloyds, AB Foods, London Stock Exchange, Marks & Spencer, and Pearson.
The pound was weakening against the US dollar, down 0.5 per cent against the currency at 1.3267. Sterling was up about 0.05 per cent against the euro, at 1.1772. The price of Brent crude oil was up about 0.4 per cent to 61 US dollars per barrel.
NEW YORK
Wall Street’s main indexes jumped to around one-month highs in early afternoon trading Thursday, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq leading gains.
Strong quarterly results from heavyweights Microsoft and Meta pointed to a resilient outlook for the technology sector.
Microsoft surged to its highest level since late January, driven by an upbeat quarterly growth forecast for its cloud-computing business Azure. The jump helped the stock surpass Apple to became the world’s most valuable company.
Meta Platforms made strong gains after posting higher-than-expected revenue on the back of a strong advertising performance.
Results from megacaps Amazon and Apple, due after markets close, lead to buoyancy in the companies’ stocks. Other technology megacaps also rose, with Nvidia shares gained which lifted the information technology and communication services sectors to over one-month highs.
Among other earnings, Eli Lilly fell following its quarterly results, pressuring the healthcare sector, while McDonald’s dipped slightly after posting a surprise drop in first-quarter global sales.
Mobile chip designer Qualcomm fell after it forecast a hit to revenue from the trade war. General Motors gained after offering a new forecast for 2025 core profit.
The day’s economic data releases were mixed. The dollar index, which measures it against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, rose 0.55 per cent to 100.22, with the euro down 0.41 per cent at $1.128. – Additional reporting, Reuters, PA, Bloomberg.
