24th Jul 2026 12:14
(Alliance News) - Stocks in Europe were higher on Friday, as oil prices eased off the USD100 a barrel mark and as investors shrugged off a re-emergence of tariff headlines.
The decline in the oil price meant oil majors fell, ensuring the FTSE 100 underperformed European peers.
The FTSE 100 index traded up 36.19 points, 0.3%, at 10,675.36 on Friday, and sits 0.7% higher so far this week.
The FTSE 250 added 79.74 points, 0.3%, at 23,707.07, and the AIM all-share rose 1.60 points, 0.2%, at 770.36.
The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.4% at 1,061.60, the Cboe UK 250 added 0.3% at 20,626.41, and the Cboe small companies was up 0.3% at 18,527.22.
In Frankfurt, the DAX 40 was up 0.7%. The CAC 40 was 0.5% higher. So far this week, the CAC is down 0.3%, but the DAX is up 0.2%.
The DAX is set for a weekly rise, and the CAC lies largely flat over the week, despite Middle East conflict worries, US tech woes and now tariff headlines giving investors food for thought.
"Tariffs are back on the list of concerns for global stock markets as the White House brings in a new swathe of levies to replace temporary measures which had just expired," AJ Bell analyst Russ Mould commented.
Beijing condemned fresh US tariffs imposed on China and 59 other countries over alleged forced labour concerns on Friday, and warned Washington against waging a trade war.
The US levies range from 10 to 12.5%, with China slapped with the highest rate.
"We oppose all forms of unilateral tariff measures," Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told a news briefing on Friday.
"Tariff wars and trade wars are not in the interests of any party," he warned.
The new tariffs replace an expiring global duty rolled out by President Donald Trump earlier this year.
Mould added: "The Trump administration was always likely to look for another route to introduce a new round of tariffs after the ruling in February from the Supreme Court that the previous set were illegal. But, while the outcome won't come as a complete shock to markets, it is nonetheless another unwelcome source of uncertainty as sentiment is buffeted by the renewed conflict between the US and Iran and concerns about levels of expenditure in the tech sector.
"Big spending at Google-owner Alphabet and Tesla announced alongside their second-quarter numbers helped drag shares lower on Wall Street."
The Dow Jones Industrial Average is called up 0.5%, the S&P 500 0.2% higher and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.1%. On Thursday, the Dow lost 1.0%, the S&P shed 1.2%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq plunged 2.2%.
Analysts at Deutsche Bank commented: "Matters weren't helped by Tesla and Alphabet which both saw large declines after their earnings release the previous day.
"The two big problems for the big tech companies are that capex is no longer being funded out of free cash flow alone and that cheaper open-source AI is seriously threatening the business model of the US AI-stack."
The yield on the US 10-year Treasury eased to 4.67% from 4.71% at the time of the London equities close on Thursday, while the 30-year yield eased to 5.17% from 5.18%.
Sterling advanced to USD1.3319 early Friday afternoon, from USD1.3303 at the time of the London equities close on Thursday. Against the euro, it traded at EUR1.1699, edging higher from EUR1.1696.
The euro rose to USD1.1382 from USD1.1370. Against the yen, the buck bought JPY163.80, down from JPY163.88.
The UK private sector returned to growth at the start of the third quarter, a purchasing managers' index reading showed on Friday, amid a slight rise in new work.
The S&P Global flash composite purchasing managers' index rose to 52.1 points in July from 49.3 in June, a three-month high and back above the 50-point mark that separates growth from contraction. It beat the FXStreet-cited market consensus of 49.7 points.
The composite PMI is made up of the services and manufacturing PMIs.
The services PMI also returned to growth territory and similarly hit a three-month high, rising to 51.8 points in July from June's final tally of 48.8.
Pantheon Macroeconomics analyst Rob Wood commented: "The Monetary Policy Committee will be encouraged by a fall in the PMI's price balances, with the services input price balance dropping to 65.7, from 69.4. The services output price balance also ticked down to 56.3, from 57.6, and consistent with underlying services inflation accelerating to 4.1% three-months-on-three-months annualised, from 2.5%, though the PMI is been sending an overly strong signal on underlying services inflation recently."
The Bank of England announces a rate decision on Thursday.
UK retail sales were stronger than expected last month, numbers from the Office for National Statistics showed Friday, with annual growth spiking to the loftiest level since January.
UK retail sales volumes surged 4.2% year-on-year in June, picking up speed from 3.5% in May. The June figure topped the FXStreet-cited consensus, which had pencilled in a slowdown in annual retail sales growth to 2.3%.
It was the chunkiest annual surge since a 4.6% rise in January.
A barrel of Brent eased to USD98.08 on Friday afternoon from USD100.98 late Thursday. Gold rose to USD4,058.17 an ounce from USD4,047.56.
BP fell 1.6%, while Shell lost 1.1%, keeping a lid on the FTSE 100's progress, as the oil price cooled back below USD100. But it did boost shares in airlines, with IAG up 2.3% and Wizz Air climbing 2.6%, among the best FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 performers, respectively.
Iran's military said on Friday it carried out drone strikes against several American military facilities and bases in Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait in retaliation for the latest US attacks against the Islamic republic.
"This morning, the fuel tanks, large equipment warehouses and silos and the barracks of the US terrorist army forces at the Isa Air Base in Bahrain were targeted by Arash kamikaze drones," the army said in a statement carried by state TV.
The Iranian army also claimed drone attacks against Jordan, targeting "aircraft hangars, aviation maintenance hangars and a barracks" at Al-Azraq base.
On the up in London, sportswear firm JD Sports added 3.2% after BNP Paribas Exane raised it to 'outperform' from 'neutral'.
discoverIE Group shot up 12%.
It said "strong momentum" it saw last in its prior financial year has continued into this one.
Sales in the first quarter ended June were up 6% on-year organically, with orders surging 31% organically. Including the recent buys of Trival and Storm, constant currency sales are 10% higher.
"Both [Trival and Storm] are performing well and the regulatory approval process for the acquisition of 3Gmetalworx is progressing. The positive outlook continues with full year adjusted earnings tracking ahead of the board's expectations. The group has a strong order book, pipeline of design wins and acquisition opportunities, and is well placed for continued growth," discoverIE added.
Renishaw rose 5.0% as it hailed "record" fourth quarter revenue, and said it expects annual profit "ahead of expectations".
The supplier of manufacturing technologies, analytical instruments, and medical devices said it saw "accelerating growth" as the year ended June 30 progressed. It culminated in record fourth-quarter revenue of GBP243 million, a rise of 27% on-year and 18% on-quarter. "
Demand remained strong from customers in the semiconductor and electronics manufacturing equipment sector, and from the aerospace and defence sector," Renishaw said.
For the full-year, it expects revenue growth of 14% to GBP815 million and adjusted pretax profit of GBP167 million, up 31%. Annual profit is "ahead of expectations", it added.
Wise Group shares fell 6.3%. The money transfer services provider reported a US national trust bank charter application has been rejected by the nation's Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
A trust bank licence would have allowed Wise to perform some custodial and fiduciary duties for clients.
Wise said the application was made "over a year ago" and its business and compliance have matured since then.
"This includes changes we have made in response to OCC feedback throughout the application process, and the OCC's letter published today refers to these historical issues with our original application that we have been addressing. We look forward to submitting a viable application to the OCC in due course which reflects both our growing business and the changing regulatory landscape," Wise added.
"The OCC's decision does not affect Wise's normal operations, in the US and elsewhere."
Still to come on Friday is a US PMI reading at 1445.
By Eric Cunha, Alliance News news editor
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