(Alliance News) – Stock prices in London slid further on Tuesday morning for the second day, as tariff threats from the US continued to unsettle investors.
The FTSE 100 index opened down 112.45 points, 1.1%, at 10,082.90. The FTSE 250 was down 188.48 points, 0.8%, at 22,923.33, and the AIM All-Share was down 2.17 points, 0.3%, at 801.32.
The Cboe UK 100 was down 1.0% at 1,009.54, the Cboe UK 250 was down 0.7% at 20,116.33, and the Cboe Small Companies was 0.1% lower at 17,776.96.
In European equities on Tuesday, the CAC 40 in Paris sank 0.9%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was 1.0% lower.
Sterling was at USD1.3480 on Tuesday morning, up from USD1.3428 at the London equities close on Monday. The euro was higher at USD1.1712 from USD1.1643. Against the yen, the dollar was lower at JPY157.87 versus JPY158.11.
Stocks fell across Europe on Tuesday as the consequences of US President Donald Trump’s renewed tariff threats against several European countries continued to unfold.
Economic data was also in focus, as the UK unemployment rate stayed the same in the three months to November, while regular earnings growth slowed.
According to the Office for National Statistics, the jobless rate was 5.1% in the three months to November, unchanged from 5.1% in the three months to October.
This came slightly above the FXStreet-cited market consensus, which had pencilled in a slight fall in unemployment to 5.0%.
Annual growth in regular earnings, excluding bonuses, was 4.5% in the three months to November, slowing from 4.6% in the three months to October.
Including bonuses, total earnings growth was 4.7%, unchanged from the previous period and above FXStreet-cited forecasts of 4.6%. Both are above the UK consumer price inflation rate of 3.2% in November.
“Taking a step back, this morning’s data emphasises the still-fragile nature of the UK labour market, with a notable margin of slack continuing to emerge, and with further such slack likely to make itself known, as growth remains anaemic, and as risks to the broader economic outlook continue to tilt to the downside,” said Pepperstone analyst Michael Brown.
“While data of the ilk seen today should help to soothe some concerns among [Bank of England] policymakers as to the risk of price pressures proving persistent, it is unlikely to be enough to force the [Monetary Policy Committee] into delivering another rate cut at the February meeting. Given the relatively hawkish nature of the cut delivered in December, policymakers are likely seeking further evidence of disinflationary pressures having become embedded before taking further steps to remove policy restriction. Tomorrow’s inflation data will, clearly, be a key piece of the puzzle on that front.”
Meanwhile, US Treasury chief Scott Bessent said that any retaliatory EU tariffs against the US would be “unwise”.
Trump, who is travelling to Davos, ramped up his rhetoric against France, warning he would impose 200% tariffs on French wine and champagne over its intentions to decline his invitation to join his “Board of Peace” set up to oversee the rebuilding of Gaza.
Investors will be watching Davos this week, where the US president is expected to give a speech to the World Economic Forum.
“If this turns sour, volatility will not stay bottled. What would normally be a Ukraine-focused week risks being hijacked by a far more destabilising question, namely, whether the transatlantic alliance is being stress-tested in public,” said Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management.
“A Nato fracture, even a rhetorical one, is not something markets are trained to shrug off.”
There were broad-based losses on the FTSE 100 on Tuesday morning. Luxury fashion firm Burberry fell the furthest, down 3.3%. Among other firms to fall were Spirax, which lost 3.1%, SSE, which dropped 2.7% and Ashtead Group, which fell 2.6%.
Against the backdrop of the selloff, gold was higher at USD4,725.80 an ounce early on Tuesday from USD4,671.76 late Monday.
Earlier on Tuesday, the yellow metal hit another new record of USD4,726.34. Meanwhile, silver hit a record of USD95.10.
US financial markets were closed on Monday for Martin Luther King Jr Day. They will reopen later on Tuesday, for the first time since the latest US tariff dispute started to unfold.
The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 4.29%, widening from 4.21% at the close on Friday. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury was quoted at 4.93%, stretched from 4.82%.
“US Treasuries joined Monday’s selloff this morning,” noted Swissquote analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya.
“The US 10-year yield jumped past 4.25% on renewed tariff uncertainty and rising rumours that Europeans could “weaponize their US assets”… to retaliate against Trump’s aggressive trade and geopolitical policies. Europeans hold roughly USD10 trillion in US assets: around USD6 trillion in US equities and roughly USD4 trillion in Treasuries and other bonds. Selling those assets would pull the rug from under US markets — and because Trump is highly focused on Wall Street, it could maybe get his attention.”
In Asia on Tuesday, the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo was down 1.1%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was 0.1% lower, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong lost 0.3%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney was 0.7% lower.
In London, Informa led the FTSE 100, climbing 2.6%, and was among just eight firms in the green as it said “strong trading” in the fourth quarter is expected to deliver full year results in line with or ahead of market guidance.
The London-based events, digital services, and academic publishing business expects revenue of at least GBP4.0 billion from GBP3.55 billion a year prior, delivering on-year revenue growth of at least 13%, with underlying revenue growth of 6.3%.
It expects adjusted earnings per share for 2025 to be at least 55.5 pence, compared to 50.1p a year prior. The company says its GBP350 million share buyback programme for 2025 completed in December, as it launched an initial GBP200 million programme for 2026 on Tuesday. It noted there is scope for further buybacks through the year.
It proposed an ordinary dividend of 22p per share, up 10% from 20.0p a year prior.
“2025 was a strong year for Informa and we have set ourselves the target of delivering another strong performance year in 2026,” said Chief Executive Stephen Carter.
GSK was down 1.1% as it said it has agreed to buy RAPT Therapeutics, a California-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on novel therapies for inflammatory and immunologic diseases.
The London-based pharmaceuticals firm said it will pay RAPT shareholders USD58.00 per share at closing for an estimated aggregate equity value of USD2.2 billion. Net of cash acquired, GSK’s estimated upfront investment is USD1.9 billion.
The acquisition includes ozureprubart, a long-acting anti-immunoglobulin E monoclonal antibody, currently in phase two B clinical development for prophylactic protection against food allergens. GSK said ozureprubart’s clinical profile offers the potential for less frequent dosing of every 12 weeks for food allergens, down from every two to four weeks.
The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2026.
“The addition of ozureprubart brings another promising new, potential best-in-class treatment to GSK’s pipeline,” said GSK Chief Scientific Office Tony Wood.
On the FTSE 250 index, Ibstock fell the most and was 5.6% lower.
The building products supplier said revenue rose 2% in 2025 to around GBP372 million from GBP366 million a year prior in “progressively more challenging market conditions”.
The company expects earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation for the full year to be in line with previous guidance, along with underlying trading cash flow.
“Decisive cost action has been taken to reduce headcount and right-size overall group capacity to near-term market dynamics,” Ibstock added.
Looking ahead, Ibstock said it expects the residential construction and repair, maintenance and improvement markets to “remain subdued” in the near-term. However, it anticipates some modest on-year volume growth in the second half of 2026 as markets recover.
The firm said pricing actions are expected to offset the impact of cost inflation.
“Reflecting our current view of the market, we will be actively managing production volumes and inventory in the first half, which will create a margin headwind for 2026, but benefit overall cash generation,” Ibstock said.
On the AIM market, CPPGroup sank 44% as it said it is considering leaving the market due to “challenges faced by the company in the context of the current UK public market environment for small-cap companies”.
These include “persistent undervaluation, limited liquidity, and the ongoing costs and administrative burden associated with maintaining a public listing,” the digital financial services provider said.
The firm said no decision has been made at this stage, but it is “actively pursuing and carefully assessing a range of strategic options to maximise long-term shareholder value”.
The company said its near to medium-term funding requirements will be met from its existing cash resources of GBP5.6 million at the end of 2025 and disposal proceeds.
Brent oil was trading lower at USD63.56 a barrel from USD64.13.
Still to come on Tuesday’s economic calendar is eurozone construction output data and an economic sentiment survey for the area.
By Michael Hennessey, Alliance News reporter
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