22nd Apr 2025 16:58
(Alliance News) - Blue-chips in London extended their winning run to seven days on Tuesday, as US stocks recouped some of Monday's heavy falls ahead of closely watched tech results this week.
The FTSE 100 index rose 52.94 points, 0.6%, at 8,328.60. The FTSE 250 fell 11.77 points, 0.1%, at 19,238.24, and the AIM All-Share rose 2.85 points, 0.4%, at 671.79.
The Cboe UK 100 rose 0.4% at 828.24, the Cboe UK 250 fell 0.2% at 16,818.16, while the Cboe Small Companies climbed 0.7% at 15,323.87.
In Paris, the CAC 40 ended up 0.5%, while Frankfurt's DAX 40 advanced 0.4%.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average traded 2.1% higher, as did the S&P 500. The Nasdaq Composite gained 2.2%.
All three leading indices nursed heavy falls on Monday when European financial markets were closed.
Monday's US losses came after US President Donald Trump unsettled markets with his renewed attack on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
In a post on his Truth Social platform on Monday, Trump said Powell, whom he called "Too Late", should lower interest rates "now" to stimulate the economy.
On Friday, Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, said that Trump would "continue to study" the matter of dismissing Powell after the president claimed the previous day that he had the right to fire the Fed chair.
Kathleen Brooks at XTB said: "This is a man-made crisis, which is triggering a major strategic global asset reallocation shift."
"A president who is pursuing an unorthodox economic policy, who is threatening the stability of the US financial system and who is engaged in a damaging trade war between the US and China, and potentially the rest of the world, is wreaking havoc on portfolios so far this year, and is strengthening safe havens," she observed.
Trump's comments prompted further dollar weakness.
Against the yen, the dollar was trading lower at JPY140.73 on Tuesday at the London equities close compared to JPY142.19 on Thursday. As recently as April 2, the dollar traded above JPY150.
The euro stood higher at USD1.1479 on Tuesday against USD1.1374 on Thursday. The pound traded higher at USD1.3383 compared to USD1.3259 on Thursday.
After today's US close, attention will focus on first-quarter earnings from electric vehicle maker, Tesla.
"This kicks off a crunch week in the US earnings season with Boeing, Alphabet and PepsiCo among those to report.
"The focus is likely to be on the outlook provided by management teams rather than the outcome for the first three months of 2025, given economic developments have been on fast forward since the start of April," AJ Bell's Russ Mould stated.
The earnings season swings into top gear amid fears of slowing economic growth caused by the uncertainty of US trade policy.
On Tuesday, the International Monetary Fund cut the UK's growth forecasts in the wake of Donald Trump's tariffs, and said that the Bank of England could afford to lower interest rates three more times this year.
The IMF's growth outlook for the UK was trimmed from 1.6% to 1.1% for 2025, as it warned of widespread economic disruption from tariffs. It also forecast growth of 1.4% in 2026, down from 1.5% previously.
The IMF also lowered its outlook for US growth to 1.8% in 2025, down 0.9 percentage points from January's forecast.
Growth in the world's largest economy is then expected to cool further to 1.7% in 2026.
On London's FTSE 100, credit checking firm Experian gained 2.5% after well-received results from US peer Equifax.
The Atlanta, Georgia-based consumer credit reporting agency posted first quarter results ahead of expectations, while second-quarter guidance was "in line with consensus estimates and better than feared", according to RBC Capital Markets.
"We believe the results are also positive read-through [for Experian]", the broker added.
Gold continued to gain traction, trading at USD3,425.98 an ounce on Tuesday against USD3,296.43 on Thursday.
Admiral climbed 0.9% after agreeing to sell its US motor insurance business to private investment firm JC Flowers & Co for an undisclosed fee.
The Cardiff, Wales-based general insurer said the deal includes Elephant Insurance Co and Elephant Insurance Services.
But DCC fell 4.5%, after analysts said the price received for the sale of its healthcare division at GBP1.05 billion was below expectations.
The Dublin-based sales, marketing, and support services provider said it will sell DCC Healthcare to HealthCo Investment Ltd, an investment vehicle of funds managed by Investindustrial Advisors Ltd.
"This is a material step in simplifying the group's operations and focusing on the group's high growth, high return, energy business", analysts at Stifel said.
The deal values the division at around 12 times its adjusted operating profit of GBP88.1 million in the financial year that ended March 31. It is expected to complete in the third quarter of 2025, subject to regulatory approvals, DCC said.
Jefferies said the GBP1.05 billion sales price tag fell shy of the GBP1.3 billion it had been expecting, while RBC Capital Markets valued the division at GBP1.23 billion.
ITM Power jumped 8.3% after raising its revenue and cash outlook for the financial year.
The Sheffield, England-based designer and manufacturer of electrolyser systems for green hydrogen production now expects revenue between GBP25.5 million and GBP26.5 million in the financial year to April 30, up 30% from the midpoint of the prior range of GBP18 million to GBP22 million.
In addition, ITM said it has been net cash generative in the second half of the financial year.
The firm now expects cash at April 30 to be between GBP204 million and GBP205 million, up slightly from the GBP203 million previously reported.
The original cash guidance, issued last August, was between GBP160 million and GBP175 million. This was raised in January 2025 to between GBP185 million and GBP195 million.
Chief Executive Dennis Schulz said: "ITM is continuing to achieve a strong revenue performance while tightly managing costs and capital expenditures. Our strong balance sheet is an important differentiator in the competitive landscape, and our contract backlog and sales pipeline have continued to grow.
"We remain well-positioned as customer [final investment decisions] accelerate through [financial 2026]."
Brent oil was quoted slightly higher late in London on Tuesday, at USD67.62 a barrel against USD67.52 late Thursday.
Wednesday's economic calendar sees a slew of PMI readings across the globe, including the UK, US and eurozone.
In addition, public sector borrowing figures are due in the UK, and the Fed's Beige Book will be published in the US.
The domestic corporate calendar sees trading statements from consumer products firm Reckitt Benckiser, speciality chemicals company Croda and estate agent Foxtons.
By Jeremy Cutler, Alliance News reporter
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