7th Jul 2025 09:01
(Alliance News) - European stocks opened mixed on Monday, with oil majors weighing on the FTSE 100, while Asian equities struggled in the lead up to a US tariff deadline.
US tariffs will kick in on August 1 if trading partners from Taiwan to the EU do not strike deals with Washington, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday.
The rates will "boomerang back" to the sometimes very high levels that President Donald Trump had announced on April 2 – before he suspended the levies to allow for trade talks and set a July 9 deadline for agreements, Bessent told CNN.
Bessent confirmed comments by Trump to reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday, in which he also cited a new deadline: "Well, I'll probably start them on August 1."
The FTSE 100 index traded down 11.52 points, 0.1%, at 8,811.39. The FTSE 250 was up 16.32 points, 0.1%, at 21,573.66, and the AIM All-Share was down 0.12 of a point at 773.37.
The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.1% at 878.64, the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.1% at 19,065.51, and the Cboe Small Companies was flat at 17,530.06.
In European equities on Monday, the CAC 40 in Paris rose 0.1%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt added 0.2%.
In Tokyo on Monday, the Nikkei 225 was down 0.6%. In China, the Shanghai Composite traded flat, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong was 0.3% lower. The S&P/ASX 200 ended down 0.2%.
"On the trade front, the weekend was packed with negotiations as the July 9th deadline approaches fast. Within two days, the Trump administration is expected to announce its tariff decision for trading partners. Bessent said some countries will receive a three-week extension. But you can never be sure that what's said now will still be true a minute from now. And you can't count on the tariffs announced in the next few hours staying unchanged for more than a day. That's just the reality—and the latest headlines aren't pointing to a smooth ride," Swissquote analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya commented.
China said on Monday that Brics, the grouping that also includes Brazil, Russia and India, was not seeking "confrontation" after US President Donald Trump vowed to impose an extra 10% tariff on countries aligning with the bloc.
"Regarding the imposition of tariffs, China has repeatedly stated its position that trade and tariff wars have no winners and protectionism offers no way forward," foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said.
Sterling faded to USD1.3604 early Monday, down from USD1.3640 at the time of the London equities close on Friday. The euro traded at USD1.1748, down from USD1.1780. Against the yen, the dollar advanced to JPY145.15 from JPY144.53.
Financial markets in New York were closed on Friday.
The yield on the 10-year US Treasury stretched slightly to 4.34% early Monday, from 4.33% at the time of the London equities close on Thursday. The yield on the 30-year widened to 4.88% from 4.85%.
A barrel of Brent fell to USD67.94 early Monday, from USD68.19 at the time of the London equities close on Friday. Gold fell to USD3,304.71 an ounce from USD3,332.52.
Saudi Arabia, Russia and six other key members of the Opec+ alliance on Saturday said they would further increase oil output in August to 548,000 barrels per day.
Analysts had expected the alliance to decide on another output increase of 411,000 bpd – the same target approved for May, June and July.
Monday's economic calendar has a eurozone retail sales reading at 1000 BST.
In London, Shell shares fell 2.6%. Shell set out a weaker top-end of its outlook range for Integrated Gas unit production in the oil major's customary pre-results snippet.
Shell expects output between 900,000 and 940,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in Integrated Gas, compared to a 890,000-950,000 range given in its first quarter results. LNG liquefaction volumes of 6.4 million to 6.8 million metric tonnes are expected, the top end of the range trimmed from 6.9 million, but the bottom raised from 6.3 million.
Shell warned that second quarter trading and optimisation results in Integrated Gas and Chemicals & Products will be "significantly lower" than the first quarter. In Upstream, its second quarter output forecast range stands at 1.66 million to 1.76 million boepd, the bottom end lifted from the 1.56 million in the outlook range given in its first quarter results.
BP fell 1.4% in a negative read across.
Currys fell 5.4%. RBC cut the electricals retailer to 'sector perform' from 'outperform'.
Elsewhere in London, Eneraqua Technologies slumped 34%. The energy and water efficiency solutions company said it has "experienced significant delays in the receipt of payments" from some clients early in its new financial year.
It also cautions that the deferral of some energy projects has "placed significant strain on the company's balance sheet and supply chain".
For the year that ended January 31, it expects revenue of GBP63 million and adjusted pretax profit in line with market expectations.
"The company is accordingly managing working capital closely and actively engaging its finance provider through its invoice discount facility, who have been supportive of the company. The company has also engaged advisers to assist in exploring opportunities for additional interim funding should it be required," it added.
By Eric Cunha, Alliance News news editor
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