30th Apr 2025 06:59
(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open slightly down on Wednesday, following news of Donald Trump's move to reduce tariffs on carmakers.
Besides a 25% tariff on finished imported cars, the industry has also been affected by Trump's 25% tariff on steel and aluminium and companies are set to face new tariffs on foreign auto parts from May 3.
The new policy, however, means that importers would pay the higher of the two levies. Also, companies that import parts for vehicles assembled in the US would be able to offset 3.75% of a vehicle's list price in the first year and 2.5% in the second.
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open down 2.7 points on Wednesday. The index of London large-caps closed up 0.6% at 8,463.46 on Tuesday.
Sterling was quoted at USD1.3395 early Wednesday, lower than USD1.3407 at the London equities close on Tuesday.
The euro traded at USD1.1379 early Wednesday, lower than USD1.1400 late Tuesday. Against the yen, the dollar was quoted higher at JPY142.51 versus JPY142.18.
In the US on Tuesday, Wall Street ended higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.8%, the S&P 500 up 0.6% and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.6%.
In Asia on Wednesday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo was up 0.3%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was down 0.1%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was up 0.1%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed up 0.3%.
Gold was quoted at USD3,309.66 an ounce early Wednesday, lower than USD3,312.17 on Tuesday.
Brent oil was trading at USD62.48 a barrel early Wednesday, lower than USD64.48 late Tuesday.
In Wednesday's corporate calendar, Barclays releases first-quarter results and Aviva holds its AGM.
In the economic calendar on Wednesday, the US has multiple releases including personal consumption expenditures and GDP.
Also, there are consumer price index reads from Germany, France and Ireland, plus eurozone GDP data.
By Emma Curzon, Alliance News reporter
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