10th Jul 2025 12:11
(Alliance News) - Stock prices in Europe were on the up heading into Thursday afternoon, with risk sentiment positive on tariff optimism and after strong trade in New York overnight.
"European markets in general continue to shrug off Donald Trump's daily tariff updates, perhaps seeing them as noise and not facts. Trump is throwing out numbers left, right and centre, and investors have begun to dismiss anything that isn't set in stone," AJ Bell analyst Dan Coatsworth commented.
"So many of Trump's decisions have either been rolled back, forgotten about, or kicked down the road. For investors, that means a shift in focus back to economic data and corporate news flow as key drivers for markets."
Among the latest tariff developments, the US sent letters to a number of trading partners on Wednesday, Brazil among them. The EU wants to strike a deal with the US "in the coming days" to avoid sweeping tariffs, a spokesman said Wednesday. Trump said a 50% tariff on US imports of copper will take effect on August 1.
The FTSE 100 index powered 94.31 points higher, 1.1%, to 8,961.33. It is on track for a new record close and earlier hit its best ever level of 8,973.00 points.
The FTSE 250 was up 65.95 points, 0.3%, at 21,633.81, and the AIM All-Share was up 1.91 points, 0.3%, at 772.34.
The Cboe UK 100 was up 1.0% at 893.73, the Cboe UK 250 added 0.3% at 19,123.64, but the Cboe Small Companies faded 0.2% to 17,460.96.
In European equities on Thursday, the CAC 40 in Paris rose 0.6%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt rose 0.1%. The DAX also hit a record high on Thursday, at one point trading at 24,639.10 points.
The pound was quoted at USD1.3605 early Thursday afternoon, rising from USD1.3583 at the time of the London equities close on Wednesday. The euro stood at USD1.1730, climbing from USD1.1706. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JPY146.14, fading from JPY146.53.
Miners and healthcare shares boosted the FTSE 100. Anglo American was the best performer, up 4.8%, while mining sector peer Rio Tinto, among the index's largest constituents, rose 4.4%. Drug maker AstraZeneca, the biggest FTSE 100 listing by market value, added 2.2%.
XTB analyst Kathleen Brooks commented: "The FTSE 100 is being led higher by miners, and the materials sector is higher by more than 3% on Thursday. Healthcare stocks are also strong across Europe. This may sound counterintuitive, President Trump has just announced tariffs on copper, and is threatening a 200% levy on pharma imports, so why are these sectors rallying? The reason is that there has been very little concrete details about how tariffs will be applied, which is why we are seeing these sectors steal the spotlight: investors expect Trump to back-track."
The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 4.35% Thursday afternoon UK time, slimming from 4.38% at the time of the London equities close on Wednesday. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury was quoted at 4.88%, easing from 4.91%.
A barrel of Brent oil fetched at USD69.86 midday Thursday, down from USD70.30 at the time of the London equities close on Wednesday. Gold was quoted at USD3,325.11 an ounce, rising from USD3,308.72.
Jupiter Fund Management added 12%, the best of the 250s, as it unveiled a GBP100 million deal to acquire CCLA Investment Management.
CCLA is the UK's largest asset manager focused on serving non-profit organisations, Jupiter noted. CCLA has GBP15 billion in assets under management on behalf of charities, religious institutions and local authorities.
"The acquisition is highly compelling from strategic, cultural and financial perspectives, delivering progress against multiple objectives," Jupiter said.
"The acquisition marks a significant step forward in delivering on Jupiter's key strategic objective of increasing scale, specifically within its home market of the UK. It also opens up a new client channel and provides complementary investment expertise with a high degree of cultural alignment."
Elsewhere in London, Hostelworld gave back 12%. The online travel agent focused on the hostel market expects to report weaker half-year profit and flat revenue.
Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation of EUR7.4 million are expected for the first half of 2025, down from EUR9.6 million a year prior. Net revenue of EUR46.7 million, flat on-year, is expected.
"While European bed prices have seen some deflation, this is helping to stimulate demand. Despite a continuation of the trend for low-cost destinations in the first half, we are seeing an improving geographic mix, supported by a pickup in European demand. Marketing as a percentage of revenue increased year-on-year, primarily driven by cost inflation in the first few months (which has since moderated) and the growth of paid channels as a proportion of total web channels," Chief Executive Officer Gary Morrison says.
Still to come on Thursday is a US initial jobless claims reading at 1330 BST.
By Eric Cunha, Alliance News news editor
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