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European stocks opened higher on Monday after US President Donald Trump struck a conciliatory tone with China, meanwhile gold hit another record earlier. The FTSE 100 index was up 26.18 points, 0.3%, at 9,453.65. The FTSE 250 was 142.19 points higher, 0.7%, at 21,944.03, and the AIM All-Share was up 6.00 points, 0.8%, at 792.33. The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.4% at 944.67, the Cboe UK 250 was 0.7% at 19,217.01, and the Cboe Small Companies was 0.1% higher at 17,715.25. In Paris, the CAC 40 was 1.0% higher, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt added 0.7%. Over the weekend Trump said the US wants to help China, not hurt it, striking a conciliatory tone days after threatening the additional tariff. ‘The USA. wants to help China, not hurt it!!!,’ Trump said in Sunday’s post on Truth Social, adding that ‘respected President Xi (Jinping)... doesn’t want Depression for his country.’ SPI Asset Management analyst Stephen Innes commented: ‘But let’s not kid ourselves this isn’t an official detente, it’s pre-negotiation theater. The Xi-Trump truce dance has entered its foggy ’mutual posturing’ phase, where both sides look tough for domestic audiences while quietly back-channelling toward a November handshake. Markets have seen this rodeo before. The bulls know it’s rarely fatal, but it’s also rarely free every tariff threat leaves a scar somewhere in the supply chain, and the longer the uncertainty lingers, the more traders start pricing in the bruises.’ Trump said Friday he no longer feels a summit is necessary with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping this month, slamming Beijing for hostile trade practices and threatening ‘massive’ tariffs. ‘Some very strange things are happening in China! They are becoming very hostile,’ Trump said in a long post on Truth Social that railed against China imposing export controls on rare earth minerals a critical component in modern technology. ‘One of the Policies that we are calculating at this moment is a massive increase of Tariffs on Chinese products coming into the US of America,’ Trump said, adding that he was considering ‘many other countermeasures.’ The remarks came shortly before the closing bell in Europe, so it was stocks in New York that bore the brunt of Friday’s sell-off. In New York on Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average sunk 1.9%, the S&P 500 tumbled 2.7%, while the Nasdaq Composite slumped 3.6%. Stocks are called to open higher on Monday, however. After the close in New York, Trump said he would impose further 100% tariffs on China from November 1 after Beijing imposed ‘extraordinarily aggressive’ export curbs on rare earth minerals. ‘Based on the fact that China has taken this unprecedented position... the US of America will impose a Tariff of 100% on China, over and above any Tariff that they are currently paying,’ Trump said on Truth Social. Beijing, in turn, accused Washington of acting unfairly, with its Ministry of Commerce on Sunday calling Trump’s tariff threat an example of ‘double standards’. In China, the Shanghai Composite ended down 0.2%, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong sunk 1.8%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney fell 0.8%. Financial markets in Tokyo are closed on Monday for Sports Day. Sterling traded at $1.3339 early Monday, flat from $1.3338 at the time of the London equities close Friday. The euro was down at $1.1610 from $1.1616, while against the yen, the dollar rose to JP¥152.30 from JP¥151.87. The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 4.08% early Monday, widening slightly from 4.07% late Friday. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury stood at 4.66%, unchanged. The US observes Columbus Day on Monday. The Securities Industry & Financial Markets Association in the US has recommended a Treasury market closure on Monday as a result. Equities trade as normal. A barrel of Brent rose to $63.67 from $63.19. Gold traded at $4,070.01 an ounce, up from $4,014.76. Gold rose as high as $4,078 earlier Monday, another record. It pushed shares in Fresnillo and Endeavour Mining up 5.8% and 4.6% in London during early dealings. Lloyds Banking Group rose 1.3% but reported it has set aside another £800 million related to motor finance mis-selling. The lender said: ‘The current FCA proposals remain a consultation and the ultimate outcome may evolve in response to representations made by various parties as well as further legal proceedings and complaints or any other broader implications of the Supreme Court judgement. However, the total £1.95 billion provision, including both redress and operational costs, represents the group’s best estimate of the potential impact of the motor finance issue.’ IP Group added 7.6%, the best FTSE 250 performer. It reported ‘potential royalty income’ from possible Metsera obesity drugs. The investor in ‘breakthrough science and innovation companies’ noted Pfizer struck a deal in September to acquire Metsera for up to $7.3 billion, $4.9 billion upfront. IP said on Monday: ‘The group benefits from financial exposure to a number of Metsera’s obesity drug programmes following Metsera’s acquisition of former IP Group portfolio company Zihipp in 2023. IP Group owns and exclusively licenses to Zihipp certain underlying IP relating to Metsera’s programmes including its lead product MET-097i as well as MET-233, MET-034 and MET-067. ‘IP Group is entitled to receive future returns from these compounds through a combination of technical and commercial milestone payments, as well as tiered, low-single digit percentage royalties on net sales of the licensed products. 50% of all monies received by the group from Metsera is payable to Imperial College London under revenue share arrangements. It should be noted that any future royalties remain subject to the eventual approval and launch of new drugs based on the licensed compounds, which is not certain.’ Elsewhere in London, Strategic Minerals surged 23% as it reported ‘exceptional’ drilling results at the Redmoor tungsten-tin-copper project in Cornwall. ‘These initial results demonstrate high tungsten grades and support Redmoor’s position as one of the highest-grade deposits globally,’ Strategic Minerals said. In focus later this week will be major US banks. Numbers from Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo come on Tuesday, with Bank of America and Morgan Stanley following a day later. XTB analyst Kathleen Brooks commented: ‘There is optimism that banks could report Q3 revenues that top $9 billion for the first time in 3 years, as M&A and dealmaking revenue picks up pace. This will be a key theme for Q3. Markets made multiple record highs, which could keep trading revenues buoyant, however, after doing the heavy lifting for revenue generation in recent quarters, the focus could turn back to traditional investment banking and dealmaking activity, which has thrived under President Trump.’ Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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