14th May 2025 08:58
(Alliance News) - London's FTSE 100 opened in the green on Wednesday as China criticises the US-UK trade deal, and gold prices continue to weaken amid easing global tariff tension.
The FTSE 100 index opened up 5.54 points, 0.1%, at 8,608.46. The FTSE 250 was up 26.68 points, 0.1%, at 20,786.35, and the AIM All-Share was down 1.98 points, 0.3%, at 729.11.
The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.1% at 858.22, the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.2% at 18,179.16, and the Cboe Small Companies was marginally lower at 15,711.89.
In European equities on Wednesday, the CAC 40 in Paris was down 0.4%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was 0.1% lower.
China has criticised the UK-US trade deal in a potential blow to the government's bid to revive relations with the country.
Beijing said it was a "basic principle" that such agreements should not target other nations. Britain's deal with America, which was the Trump administration's first since it unveiled sweeping global tariffs last month, includes an agreement to co-ordinate to "address non-market policies of third countries."
It is understood that this clause is intended to prevent the UK becoming a "backdoor" for circumvention of American measures on trade and security in relation to nations such as China through its exports to the country.
"Co-operation between states should not be conducted against or to the detriment of the interests of third parties," Beijing's foreign ministry told the Financial Times. The statement poses difficulties for Keir Starmer's government as it seeks to navigate its trading position between two economic superpowers.
In the US on Tuesday, Wall Street ended mixed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average fading 0.6%, the S&P 500 rising 0.7% and the Nasdaq Composite 1.6% higher.
Gold was quoted lower at USD3,236.24 an ounce on Wednesday, against USD3,250.97 late Tuesday.
"Despite yesterday's rebound, gold continues to show clear signs of short-term weakness", commented XS.com analyst Linh Tran. "The precious metal is now trading steadily below USD3,300/oz as key drivers in recent weeks — including trade tensions and inflationary pressure — have simultaneously shown signs of easing. The strong upward momentum that previously supported gold appears to be losing steam for now, as markets reassess global risk expectations and the likely path of future monetary policy."
In Asia on Wednesday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo faded 0.1%. In China, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.9%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong improved 2.1%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed up 0.1%.
Imperial Brands was the FTSE 100's biggest loser at Wednesday's market open, down 8.3%.
The tobacco products maker reported pretax profit of GBP1.30 billion for the six months that ended March 31, up 14% from GBP1.14 billion the year before. This was despite revenue declining 3.1% to GBP14.60 billion from GBP15.06 billion, while distribution, advertising and selling costs increased 2.6% to GBP1.20 billion from GBP1.17 billion.
Imperial Brands declared an interim dividend of 80.16 pence per share, up 79% on-year from 44.90p.
"Despite the uncertain global economic environment, we are on track to deliver our full-year results in line with our guidance, supported by tobacco pricing already taken in the first half and continued momentum in NGP," said Chief Executive Officer Stefan Bomhard.
Imperial Brands also announced that Bomhard will be succeeded as CEO by current Chief Financial Officer Lukas Paravicini on October 1. Outgoing CEO Bomhard will stay with the company until the end of the year and be available until May 2026 to help Paravicini with the transition.
Current Chief Strategy & Development Officer Murray McGowan will move from his role to CFO on October 1.
At the other end, Burberry was the FTSE 250's biggest winner, up 8.4%.
The luxury goods firm plans to cut up to 1,700 jobs globally as it swings to a pretax loss of GBP66 million in the year that ended March 29, from a profit of GBP383 million the year before. This was driven by a 17% decline in revenue to GBP2.46 billion from GBP2.97 billion. It proposes no dividend for the year, against a 61.0 pence per share payout a year prior.
"After a challenging first half, we have moved at pace to implement Burberry Forward, our strategic plan to reignite brand desire, improve our performance and drive long-term value creation," says Chief Executive Officer Joshua Schulman.
He continued: "While we are operating against a difficult macroeconomic backdrop and are still in the early stages of our turnaround, I am more optimistic than ever that Burberry's best days are ahead and that we will deliver sustainable profitable growth over time."
Mirriad Advertising fell 30%.
The in-content advertising and virtual product placement company launched a retail offer for up to GBP200,000 via 2.0 million shares at 0.01 pence each. The offer closes at Thursday's market close.
The group also on Wednesday said it has raised GBP1.5 million through the placing of 15 billion shares at 0.01p. The fundraising follows warnings in early May that the company may be forced to go into administration in the absence of an "immediate injection of capital".
The pound was quoted at USD1.3305 early on Wednesday in London, up from USD1.3278 at the equities close on Tuesday. The euro stood higher at USD1.1195, against USD1.1174. Against the yen, the dollar was trading lower at JPY147.09 compared to JPY147.84.
The EU on Wednesday approved a fresh package of sanctions clamping down on Russia's "shadow" oil fleet, as Europe threatens further punishment if Moscow does not agree to a Ukraine truce.
The new measures against the Kremlin – the 17th round of sanctions from the EU since Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine – were in the pipeline before European leaders issued their latest ultimatum to Moscow over US-led peace efforts.
Brent oil was quoted up at USD66.45 a barrel early in London on Wednesday from USD66.21 late Tuesday.
Still to come on Wednesday's economic calendar, a US EIA crude oil stocks reading at 15:30 BST.
By Emily Parsons, Alliance News reporter
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