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Stocks in Europe were higher at midday Tuesday as the EU announced the suspension of retaliatory tariffs on US goods, after the partners had struck a deal in July. The FTSE 100 index was up 36.15 points, 0.4%, at 9,164.45. The FTSE 250 was up 114.39 points, 0.5%, at 21,973.89, and the AIM All-Share was up 5.70 points, 0.8%, at 764.59. The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.5% at 916.49, the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.6% at 19,341.87, and the Cboe Small Companies was up 0.3% at 17,394.76. In European equities on Tuesday, the CAC 40 in Paris gained 0.3%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt improved 0.7%. The EU announced Tuesday the suspension of its retaliatory tariffs on US goods worth €93 billion after Brussels struck a deal with Washington last month. ‘The commission has today adopted the necessary legal procedures to suspend the implementation of our EU countermeasures, which were due to kick in on August 7,’ EU trade spokesman Olof Gill said. Meanwhile, service sector growth in the UK slowed but beat expectations in July, amid an ‘unfavourable global economic backdrop’ while optimism improved as US tariff concerns faded. The S&P Global UK services purchasing managers’ business activity index fell to 51.8 points in July from 52.8 in June, but beat the July 24 flash reading of a sharper fall to 51.2 in July. Getting closer to the neutral 50-point mark separating growth from contraction, it indicates the pace of service sector business activity growth in the UK slowed in July. The composite PMI meanwhile eased to 51.5 in July from 52.0 in June, outperforming the 51.0 flash reading. Total new work fell in July, with the rate of decline the sharpest since November 2022, amid weak client confidence and delayed investment decisions. The pound was quoted broadly flat at $1.3286 at midday on Tuesday in London, compared to $1.3287 at the equities close on Monday. The euro stood lower at $1.1536, against $1.1568. Against the yen, the dollar was trading up at JP¥147.75 compared to JP¥147.30. Registrations of new cars in the UK fell by 5% last month, preliminary figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders suggest. Approximately 140,000 new cars were registered in July, compared with 147,517 during the same month in 2024. Battery electric vehicles, Bevs, held a 21% share of the new car market last month. SMMT slightly upgraded its forecast for full-year new car registrations, to 1.9 million. Registrations in 2024 reached 1.95 million. Bevs are forecast to hold a full-year market share of 23.8%. Smith & Nephew continued to lead the FTSE 100 around midday, up 14%. The Watford, England-based medical devices maker said pretax profit jumped 43% to $362 million in the half year that ended June 28 from $253 million a year prior. Revenue increased 4.7% to $2.96 billion in the half year from $2.83 billion a year ago, including a $1.55 billion contribution in the second quarter, up 7.8% from $1.44 billion last year. The company raised its interim dividend by 4.2% to 15.0 US cents from 14.4 cents a year ago and announced a $500 million share buyback. Smith & Nephew left full-year guidance unchanged, expecting underlying revenue growth to be around 5.0%, with reported growth 5.5%. Trading profit margin is expected to expand to between 19.0% and 20.0%. Fresnillo was the second largest winner on the index, rising 5.5%. The London- and Mexico City-based silver and gold miner reported a jump in revenue thanks to higher gold and silver prices, while profit also got a boost from the devaluation of the Mexican peso against the US dollar. The company hiked its interim dividend dramatically in response, declaring a 20.8 US cents payout per share, which was tripled from 6.4 cents a year before. Fresnillo said pretax profit was $660.3 million in the six months that ended June 30, up from $277.8 million a year before. Profit would have been up by even more but for a $190.1 million hit from the revaluation of Fresnillo’s Silverstream contract, swung from a $66.5 million such gain a year before. The contract is being bought out. Gold production guidance was increased due to the better performance of the Herradura mine in the first half. Gold production is now guided at 555,000 to 590,0000 ounces in 2025, up from previous guidance of 525,000 to 580,000. Gold production in 2026 is guided at 515,000 to 565,000 ounces, followed by 535,000 to 595,000 in 2027, but unchanged from previous guidance. Travis Perkins gained 8.4%. The Northampton-based building materials company said pretax profit rose to £37.1 million in the six months to June 30 from £26.6 million a year prior. Revenue eased 2.1% to £2.30 billion from £2.35 billion mainly reflecting a ‘difficult’ first quarter, with a continued trend of market share loss and revenue decline in Merchanting. Looking ahead, Chair Geoff Drabble said: ‘Whilst the market outlook for the second half remains uncertain, the board anticipates that the group will deliver a full year result broadly in line with current market expectations’. Company compiled consensus shows full year adjusted operating profit with a range of £135 million to £148 million and a mean of £141 million. At the other end, Capital Metals slipped 9.1%. The London-based mining firm targets mineral sand deposits in Sri Lanka received subscriptions for around $825,000 under the first tranche of a $2 million investment to be made by Ambeon Capital PLC, a 14% shareholder in Capital Metals. Back in May, Ambeon proposed to invest in Capital Metals via a subscription priced at 2.75 pence per share. Capital Metals on Tuesday said Ambeon has now exercised its option to subscribe for 22.7 million new shares at the agreed issue price. Ambeon confirmed it intends to exercise its option in full within the option period, which was extended to August 11. Proceeds will be used by Capital Metals to obtain necessary approvals to reach final investment decision, with any remaining funds to be used as general working capital. Stocks in New York were called higher, extending their green streak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was called 0.2% higher, the S&P 500 index also up 0.2%, and the Nasdaq Composite 0.3% higher. The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted flat at 4.22%. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury was also unchanged at 4.81%. ‘Tariff concerns remain in play as we head towards the 7 August deadline, with a particular focus growing on the elevated levels seen for goods originating from India, Brazil, and Switzerland. Notably, the 8 August deadline Trump set for a Russia-Ukraine deal means that we are expecting to see a sharp increase in the tariff rate for India; one of the biggest buyers of Russian crude,’ commented Rostro analyst Joshua Mahony. ‘While tariffs have typically been utilised in a bid to level out trade imbalances, Trump has sought to target India owing to their apparent lack of care over ’how many Ukrainians are being killed by the Russian war machine‘. ‘However, the lack of any action against China for their role in the trade of Russian oil will highlight the concern that this is simply a tactic to push hard against an Indian government which has thus far failed to reach any agreement in trade negotiations. The desire to open the Indian agricultural market to US exports looks unlikely to bear any fruit and thus there is a risk that these increased tariffs remain in place.’ Brent oil was quoted down at $68.04 a barrel at midday in London on Tuesday from $69.20 late Monday. Gold was quoted lower at $3,356.90 an ounce against $3,372.82. Still to come on Tuesday’s economic calendar, US composite PMI and trade balance data. Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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