11th Apr 2025 09:00
(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London opened somewhat higher on Friday, as tensions remain high over US President Donald Trump's latest tariffs.
US tariffs on Chinese imports have been raised to 145% not 125% as the White House had previously announced, a member of the US administration has said, with China reaching out to other partners as tensions rise.
However, UK GDP showed the economy growing 0.5%, faster than the 0.1% forecast by FXStreet consensus, in February.
The Office for National Statistics said real GDP is estimated to have grown by 0.6% in the three months to February, compared with the three months to November, mainly because of growth in the services sector. Services output grew by 0.3% in February, following unrevised growth of 0.1% in January, and grew by 0.6% in the three months to February.
The FTSE 100 index opened up 28.54 points, 0.4%, at 7,941.79. The FTSE 250 was up 69.16 points, 0.4%, at 18,586.57, and the AIM All-Share was up 4.09 points, 0.6%, at 649.06.
The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.2% at 790.93, the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.4% at 16,151.75, and the Cboe Small Companies was flat at 14,675.78.
On the FTSE 100, BP lost 1.9%.
The London-based oil and gas major said it expects upstream production for the first quarter of 2025 to be lower, compared to the fourth quarter of 2024.
Production is anticipated slightly higher in oil production & operations, and lower in gas & low carbon energy. BP also expects realisations in the gas & low carbon energy segment to be "broadly flat" on-quarter, and expects the gas marketing and trading result to be "weak".
Among smaller caps, Gemfields plummeted 21%.
The London-based miner and marketer of coloured gemstones announced that it intends to raise USD30 million through an equity rights issue, after swinging to a USD103.6 million pretax loss in 2024 as the company grappled with rising costs and political uncertainty.
Revenue fell 19% to USD212.9 million and Gemfields skipped paying a dividend for 2024, after paying out 0.857 US cents for 2023.
Niox dropped 19%.
Keensight Capital announced that it does not intend to make a firm offer for the Oxford, England-based asthma diagnosis and management device developer, "in light of the current macro-economic backdrop".
Keensight previously gave an 81 pence per share proposal, which Niox said it would be "minded to recommend" to shareholders.
Niox, also citing the macroeconomic climate, said it has discontinued its private sales process with immediate effect because proceeding "is unlikely to yield an optimal outcome for shareholders".
In other UK economic news, separate figures from the ONS showed the total goods and services trade deficit narrowed by GBP7.5 billion to a deficit of GBP1.0 billion in the three months to February, the lowest total trade deficit since the three months to July 2021.
The trade in goods deficit narrowed by GBP3.5 billion to GBP55.0 billion in the three months to February, while the trade in services surplus is estimated to have widened by around GBP4.0 billion to GBP53.9 billion.
In European equities on Friday, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.6%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was up 0.6%.
German consumer prices continued to rise but inflation eased as expected last month, numbers on Friday showed.
According to Destatis, German annual consumer price index inflation stood at 2.2% in March, in line with a provisional estimate. The rate of inflation in both February and January was 2.3%, down from 2.6% in December.
The Federal Statistical Office reported that energy prices had a downward effect on inflation during the month.
"By contrast, the rise in food prices accelerated again. In addition, above-average increases in service prices, in particular, continued to drive up inflation," Destatis said.
The pound was quoted at USD1.3058 early on Friday in London, higher compared to USD1.2965 at the equities close on Thursday. The euro stood at USD1.1341, higher against USD1.1195. Against the yen, the dollar was trading lower at JPY143.16 compared to JPY144.41.
In Asia on Friday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo was down 3.0%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was up 0.5%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was up 1.6%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed down 0.8%.
In the US on Thursday, Wall Street ended lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 2.5%, the S&P 500 down 3.5% and the Nasdaq Composite down 4.3%.
In other tariff news, Trump has threatened Mexico with "escalating consequences" on trade unless it provides more water to Texas under a contentious decades-old treaty.
He claimed that Mexico was violating a 1944 pact under which the US shares water from the Colorado River in exchange for flows from the Rio Grande, which forms part of the border between the two countries.
Mexico says its lagging deliveries are due to two decades of drought in the Rio Grande basin.
Also, US troops will be able to deploy to a string of bases along the Panama Canal under a joint deal seen by AFP, in a major concession to Trump as he seeks to reestablish influence over the vital waterway.
The agreement, signed by top security officials from both countries, allows US military personnel to deploy to Panama-controlled facilities for training, exercises and "other activities."
Brent oil was quoted at USD64.09 a barrel early in London on Friday, up from USD63.32 late Thursday.
Gold was quoted higher at USD3,208.65 an ounce against USD3,069.25.
Still to come on Friday's economic calendar, the US has producer inflation data and the Michigan consumer sentiment index.
By Emma Curzon, Alliance News reporter
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