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London’s FTSE 100 surrendered some earlier progress but was on the up on Monday afternoon, as US President Donald Trump took some sting out of China tensions. However, a rise in the gold price suggests investors are still mindful of tariff risks. The precious metal marched to another record high on Monday. The FTSE 100 index was up 8.58 points, 0.1%, at 9,436.05. The FTSE 250 jumped 238.09 points, 1.1%, at 22,039.93, and the AIM All-Share was up 5.76 points, 0.7%, at 792.09. The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.2% at 942.42, the Cboe UK 250 was 1.3% higher at 19,331.31, and the Cboe Small Companies was 0.2% higher at 17,723.29. In Paris, the CAC 40 was 0.4% higher, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt added 0.6%. 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.’ Naga analyst Frank Walbaum commented: ‘The reversal eased fears of an immediate escalation in trade tensions, though investors remain cautious amid Beijing’s warnings of retaliation if the US moves forward with the proposed duties. The brief episode reignited recent memories of the trade war, when tariff uncertainty weighed on global growth and triggered sharp market volatility. Any renewed confrontation between the world’s two largest economies could again challenge risk sentiment and complicate the Federal Reserve’s policy outlook. The US government shutdown is dragging on, meanwhile. It began at the start of the month. Since then, a nonfarm payrolls report has gone unpublished. Thursday would have seen the release of the latest jobless claims data, which would have come hot-on-the-heels of the jobs report, though the shutdown also put paid to that being published. Next week, US consumer price inflation data would have otherwise been on Wednesday’s docket. The Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday said the data has been pushed back to October 24. ‘No other releases will be rescheduled or produced until the resumption of regular government services. This release allows the Social Security Administration to meet statutory deadlines necessary to ensure the accurate and timely payment of benefits,’ the BLS said. Sterling traded at $1.3337 midday Monday afternoon, flat from $1.3338 at the time of the London equities close Friday. The euro was down at $1.1585 from $1.1616, while against the yen, the dollar rose to JP¥152.15 from JP¥151.87. The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 4.06% early Monday afternoon, narrowing slightly from 4.07% late Friday. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury stood at 4.65%, slimming from 4.66%. In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is called up 1.0%, the S&P 500 1.4% higher and the Nasdaq Composite up 1.9%. The trio suffered heavy falls on Friday in the wake of Trump’s remarks. Analysts at Deutsche Bank commented: ‘US banks will kick off the Q3 earnings season tomorrow with notable companies reporting including JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup. Morgan Stanley and Bank of America will follow on Wednesday. In tech, the spotlight will be on semiconductor firms ASML (Wednesday) and TSMC (Thursday). Other earnings highlights this week include Samsung, Johnson & Johnson and Blackrock.’ A barrel of Brent rose to $63.68 midday Monday, from $63.19 late Friday. Gold traded at $4,085.25 an ounce, a new record high, up from $4,014.76. Kudotrade analyst Konstantinos Chrysikos said: ‘Gold extended its winning streak on Monday, reaching a new record high as renewed volatility surrounding USChina trade relations spurred demand for safe-haven assets.’ Fresnillo, Endeavour Mining and Hochschild shone in London, rising 7.7%, 6.5% and 6.9%. Defence stocks struggled, however. Babcock fell 2.4%, BAE lost 1.2% and Qinetiq gave back 1.4%. In Paris, Thales fell 1.0%, though it was a largely positive day for equities there so far. Political uncertainty continues to cloud over France, however. French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday accused rival political forces of fuelling instability by undermining newly reappointed Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu, whose government faces immediate threats of censure. ‘It is everyone’s duty to work towards stability,’ Macron said, as Lecornu prepared to deliver a policy speech Tuesday afternoon in the lower house of parliament. The hard-left France Unbowed party and far-right National Rally have threatened to topple the new cabinet, unveiled late Sunday after protracted political deadlock. ‘Many of those who have fuelled division and speculation have not risen to the moment,’ Macron said upon his arrival in Egypt, where he is attending the Gaza summit. Back in London, Oxford Instruments said order intake suffered in the first half of its financial year amid tariff disruption meaning full-year revenue is likely to be little changed year-on-year. Chief Executive Richard Tyson said the start of the financial year coincided with the beginning of a ‘turbulent time in our markets’, and despite an ‘improving picture’ in the second quarter, ‘we are now assuming that we will not recover the [first half] revenue shortfall.’ In response, shares in the provider of high technology products and services to industry and scientific research communities plummeted 12%. Oxford Instruments said it saw ‘contrasting order dynamics’ in its two divisions during the six months to September 30. Revenue for the half-year is expected to have fallen 10% on-year from £204.2 million, but the firm expects second half revenue to be marginally up versus the second half of 2024. As a result, Oxford Instruments now expects full-year revenue, adjusted operating profit, and its margin to be ‘similar to the prior year’ on an organic constant currency basis. Costain added 9.1%. It has won a place on a £2.9 billion project for the decommissioning of the Sellafield nuclear power plant in Cumbria, north west England. Costain joins the infrastructure delivery partnership, which will provide essential services for the Sellafield site, including electricity distribution, water, road and rail networks, and bridges, the construction and engineering firm reports. Costain is to act as utilities partner, with Morgan Sindall Infrastructure, part of Morgan Sindall Group, will be electrical distribution partner. Hochtief (UK) Construction, part of Hochtief AG, will be civils partner. Costain said it expects its portion of the £2.9 billion total to be worth up to £1 billion. The contracts are for an initial nine years with an option for a further six, running to 2040. Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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