24th Feb 2026 08:55
(Alliance News) - Stock prices in Europe opened lower on Tuesday, with markets unnerved by tariff uncertainty and after renewed artificial intelligence worries hit stocks in New York.
The FTSE 100 index was down 20.09 points, 0.2%, at 10,664.65. The FTSE 250 was down 37.60 points, 0.2%, at 23,509.05, and the AIM all-share was down 0.12 of a point at 816.14.
The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.2% at 1,061.25, the Cboe UK 250 shed 0.1% at 20,840.86, and the Cboe small companies was flat at 18,522.57.
The CAC 40 in Paris and the DAX 40 in Frankfurt were each down 0.2%.
Fresh US tariffs on imported goods came into effect Tuesday, as President Donald Trump moved to rebuild his trade agenda after the Supreme Court ruled against a swath of his global duties.
The new tariffs, initially set at 10%, are justified as a means "to deal with the large and serious US balance-of-payments deficits," according to a White House released Friday.
Trump has since vowed to raise this level to 15%, with exclusions expected to remain for goods covered by sector-specific investigations and the US-Mexico-Canada trade pact.
The pound faded to USD1.3485 on Tuesday morning, from USD1.3505 late Monday. The euro declined to USD1.1787 from USD1.1801. Against the yen, the buck surged to JPY156.05 from JPY154.33.
The yield on the 10-year US Treasury was steady at 4.04%, where it stood at the time of the London equities close on Monday. The 30-year yield stretched to 4.70% from 4.69%.
In New York on Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped 1.7%, the S&P 500 shed 1.0% and the Nasdaq Composite declined 1.1%.
In Asia on Tuesday, financial markets in Shanghai re-opened after the Chinese New Year break. The Shanghai Composite ended 0.9% higher. The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong lost 1.7%. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 was up 0.9%, after being closed on Monday for a public holiday. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney ended flat.
"Markets on both sides of the Atlantic kicked off the week on a sour note, as Donald Trump's latest tariff shake-up offered little for businesses and investors to cheer. European carmakers were among the hardest hit after EU leaders decided to freeze ratification of the trade deal signed last summer. They want clarification on the proposed 15% global tariff — what it covers and how long it would last — before moving forward. The US President expressed frustration, but signing an agreement without fully understanding the details is not the European way. As a result, the deal risks unravelling before it is even implemented — a significant waste of time and political capital," Swissquote analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya commented.
"Elsewhere, the AI fear trade spilled over into delivery and payment stocks after research from Citrini outlined a hypothetical — not predictive — scenario in which rapid AI disruption could trigger mass white-collar unemployment within two years, leading to weaker spending, software-loan defaults and broader economic contraction."
AI worries hit the likes of Relx and London Stock Exchange Group, which have been at the heart of sell-offs recently. Relx lost 1.9% and LSEG gave back 1.1% early Tuesday.
On the up, Convatec added 6.9%. Convatec said it expects to "accelerate" as it raised medium-term revenue guidance alongside broadly in line 2025 earnings.
The London-based medical products and technologies provider said pretax profit fell 6.5% to USD230 million in 2025 from USD246 million in 2024, but rose 15% to USD471 million from USD411 million on an adjusted basis.
Operating profit declined 2.7% to USD316 million from USD325 million with an operating profit margin of 13.0%, down from 14.2%.
On an adjusted basis, operating profit grew 12% to USD544 million from USD485 million, a touch ahead of USD542 million company compiled consensus.
Adjusted operating profit margin of 22.3% in 2025, was up from 21.2% in 2024, in line with consensus.
Revenue increased 6.5% to USD2.44 billion in 2025 from USD2.29 billion the year prior, just ahead of company consensus of USD2.43 billion.
Croda shares climbed 4.4%. The Yorkshire, England-based speciality chemicals maker said pretax profit fell 56% to GBP81.0 million in 2025 from GBP207.8 million in 2024, though sales rose 4.4% to GBP1.70 billion from GBP1.63 million.
Sales were ahead of the company-compiled consensus of GBP1.68 million.
Statutory pretax profit fell as operating costs climbed 26% to GBP635.6 million from GBP506.4 million.
Adjusted pretax profit improved 8.4% to GBP276.2 million from GBP260.0 million, ahead of consensus of GBP267.8 million.
Croda upped its full year dividend by 0.9% to 111.0 pence from 110.0p.
Elsewhere, Unite Group slumped 9.3%. The student accommodation firm said IFRS net assets per share declined 1.6% to 966p at December 31 from 982p a year prior. EPRA net tangible assets per share fell 1.7% to 955p from 972p.
Pretax profit slumped 78% to GBP97.6 million from GBP444.0 million, as it reported GBP73.7 million worth of valuation losses, compared to a GBP239.6 million gain in 2024. Rental income improved 7.6% to GBP428.2 million from GBP398.0 million.
Unite maintained its final dividend at 24.9p per share, taking the annual payout to 37.7p, up 1.1% from 37.3p.
It added: "The company intends to maintain a stable dividend payout in 2026, distributing 37.7p for the financial year, balancing confidence in the medium-term outlook with the expected reduction in adjusted earnings per share for the year ahead."
It sees 2026 adjusted EPS between 41.5 and 43.0p, down from 47.5p in 2025, which had represented 1.9% growth from 46.6p in 2024.
Gold fell to USD5,169.07 an ounce early Tuesday, from USD5,216.70 late Monday. A barrel of Brent fell to USD71.55 from USD71.96.
By Eric Cunha, Alliance News news editor
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