23rd Feb 2026 12:06
(Alliance News) - Stock prices in Europe were mixed on Monday, with the FTSE 100 sneaking into the green ahead of the afternoon, recovering from a slow start after Donald Trump's tariff threat unnerved investors.
The FTSE 100 index was up 18.17 points, 0.2%, at 10,705.06. The FTSE 250 was down 32.52 points, 0.1%, at 23,719.04, and the AIM all-share was up 2.19 points, 0.3%, at 817.30.
The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.2% at 1,066.08, the Cboe UK 250 shed 0.2% at 21,023.79, and the Cboe small companies gave back 0.1% at 18,599.82.
The CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.1%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt shed 0.5%.
"A mixed start in Europe, with the new week bringing fresh tariff rates after the Supreme Court struck down the old IEEPA regime. This comes to the detriment of the UK in particular, eradicating the beneficial position of negotiating against a backdrop of a trade deficit with the US. For the FTSE 100, the one particular area of strength comes from the miners, with precious metal names Fresnillo and Endeavour leading the way as gold hit a three-week high on Iran and tariff uncertainty," Scope Markets analyst Joshua Mahony commented.
Fresnillo rose 4.5%, Endeavour Mining added 3.6%, while elsewhere in the mining sector, Antofagasta climbed 1.9% and Glencore traded 1.7% higher.
Gold rose to USD5,152.29 an ounce midday Monday, from USD5,066.90 late Friday.
"Whether we start to see fresh tit-for-tat moves from nations such as the UK remains to be seen, but this latest shake-up to global trade no doubt provides a fresh degree of uncertainty going forward. Somewhat perversely, while the UK suffers the highest increase in average tariff rate of any country in the world from this latest move, the biggest beneficiaries are the likes of Brazil, China, India, and Canada. Countries that have specifically been targeted in a bid to level the playing field on trade. No longer does this look like a targeted policy aimed at fixing an unfair system for the US, but instead it is essentially a blanket tax aimed at replicating the income from the old tariffs," Mahony added.
In Frankfurt, share price falls for the likes of SAP and Rheinmetall, down 2.1% and 2.7%, kept a lid on the DAX 40. Luxury retail showed strength, with Kering up 4.2% and LVMH adding 2.3%, supporting the CAC 40.
Sterling was flat at USD1.3492 at the time of the London equities close on Friday. The euro climbed to USD1.1785 from USD1.1780. Against the yen, the dollar slipped slightly to JPY154.92 from JPY154.95.
Lloyds Banking Group analysts commented: "At the macro level the tariff news is a catalyst for a further bout of Dollar weakness, as per overnight trading, but trade developments aren't the only potential key market driver in the short-term. Prediction markets still see a roughly two-in-three probability the US strikes Iran in H1 2026, with further talks in Geneva expected this week. And a more intense focus on private credit markets following last week's Blue Owl gating news is possible too. Both of these stories have the potential to vie with US trade developments as dominant market-driving themes in the week ahead."
Meanwhile, three days after the decision by the US Supreme Court to strike down parts of President Donald Trump's tariff policy, the US Customs Authority announced that it was halting the collection of corresponding duties.
The authority stated that certain tariffs based on emergency powers would no longer be collected from 0500 GMT on Tuesday.
The yield on the 10-year US Treasury narrowed to 4.08% on Monday afternoon from 4.09% late Friday, while the 30-year yield slimmed to 4.72% from 4.73%.
A barrel of Brent rose to USD71.57 midday Monday, from USD71.33 late Friday.
JD Sports added 5.8%. It said it intends to return GBP200 million to shareholders through share buybacks in the 2027 financial year.
The Manchester, England-based sportswear retailer said the share buyback programme will start immediately with a value of up to GBP100 million.
Johnson Matthey shares fell 17%. The London-based speciality chemicals and sustainable technologies company said the price of the sale of its Catalyst Technologies business to Honeywell has been reduced amid a "challenging market environment".
The unit will now be sold to Honeywell for an enterprise value of GBP1.33 billion, cut from GBP1.80 billion. As a result, Johnson Matthey now expects to return around GBP1.00 billion to shareholders, down from the previously reported GBP1.4 billion.
AJ Bell analyst Russ Mould commented: "Johnson Matthey has served shareholders a nasty shock with the news not only of a delay to the sale of its Catalyst Technologies division to US industrial outfit Honeywell but also a big cut in the sale price. At least there is no questioning the logic of a sale – with the agreement with Honeywell to slash the price tag reflective of the weak performance of the business unit in the current financial year.
"Catalyst Technologies provides process technologies and catalysts to the chemicals and oil industries, with a focus on licensing technology for producing sustainable aviation fuels, low-carbon hydrogen, and methanol. Several of its licensing opportunities have been deferred of late and the market backdrop in general has been unhelpful. Johnson Matthey already faces disruption to its biggest profit engine – the catalytic converter focused Clean Air division – from the move to electric vehicles. A move to a new business model emphasising cash generation may be progressing well and trading may be in line with expectations but it can ill afford the kind of setback it has endured today."
TheWorks.co.uk added 10%. Kelso Group said it has increased its stake in TheWorks.co.uk to 7.0% from 6.6%
The investor in London-listed companies said it believes the Birmingham, England-based seller of arts and crafts, stationery, toys, and books is "one of the most undervalued companies on the UK stock market".
Despite a "continued improvement in performance, driven by strong operational management" Kelso noted that The Works is currently trading on an enterprise value to Ebitda multiple of 1.65 times and a revenue multiple of 0.05 times.
"Kelso has written to the board of The Works this morning outlining several constructive proposals aimed at closing this clear valuation gap," it said.
Kelso shares rose 1.7%.
By Eric Cunha, Alliance News news editor
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