London’s financial markets recovered some ground on Tuesday morning after days of market turmoil spurred by President Donald Trump’s tariff plans.
Markets across Europe were in positive territory during early trading as sentiment calmed.
London’s FTSE 100 was firmly higher after trading opened, but was still almost 10% lower since Wednesday, after a dismal week for City stocks.
The index of London’s biggest publicly-listed firms was 1.8% higher at 7,839.2 points on Tuesday morning.
Aerospace and defence stocks led the risers on the index, with Rolls-Royce and BAE Systems making notable gains.
All other indexes on the London Stock Exchange were also in the green.
It follows a more positive session for Asian markets, with Hong Kong’s influential Hang Seng index up 1.5% and Japan’s Nikkei up 6%.
Elsewhere in Europe, Germany’s Dax index was up 0.85% for the morning, while the French Cac 40 was 0.82% higher.
“After multiple punishing sessions, stock markets appear to have started their road to recovery,” says Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.
“These are small wins in terms of asset movements but big wins for the state of the broader market given the bloodbath we’ve endured since ‘Liberation Day’ last week.
“The stabilising of markets will be welcomed with open arms.”
The improvement comes after a torrid week for the financial markets after President Trump’s “Liberation Day” announcement on Wednesday that he will introduce sweeping tariff increases for dozens of countries.
On Monday, major global markets suffered another particularly bruising day after the president threatened to ramp up tariffs against China when the country announced retaliatory tariff action.
As a result, the FTSE plummeted by 352.9 points, or 4.38%, to 7,702.08 – its lowest closing price for more than a year – at the end of trading on Monday.
Meanwhile, sterling hit a month-low against the dollar and dropped to its lowest level against the euro since August last year.