London stocks close lower amid US tariffs uncertainty
US treasury secretary Scott Bessent on Sunday confirmed comments by US president Donald Trump that he would 'probably start [tariffs] on August 1'.
US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick has also confirmed this new deadline.
The rates will 'boomerang back' to the sometimes very high levels that President Trump had announced on April 2 – before he suspended the levies to allow for trade talks and set a July 9 deadline for agreements, Mr Bessent told CNN.
Also on Sunday, Mr Trump told reporters he had signed about a dozen letters to inform countries of rate hikes, to be sent out on Monday.
The FTSE 100 index closed down 16.38 points, 0.2%, at 8,806.53. The FTSE 250 ended down 18.86 points, 0.1%, at 21,538.48, and the AIM All-Share closed down 1.53 points, 0.2%, at 771.96.
On the FTSE 100, Glencore closed down 1.3%.
The Baar, Switzerland-based commodity trading and mining company started a buyback programme worth up to one billion dollars, returning funds from an investment return and looking to reduce capital in anticipation of future taxes. The plan was first announced on Wednesday.
On the FTSE 250, Hollywood Bowl closed up 3.0%.
The Hemel Hempstead-based ten-pin bowling operator started a £5 million share buyback, running from Monday to September 30. Hollywood Bowl noted its 'highly cash generative business model and strong balance sheet'.
Primary Health Properties gained 0.3%.
The London-based healthcare facility investor reported rental growth amid a 'strong' operational performance, with net rental income rising 3.1% on-year to £78.6 million for the six months that ended June 30. Primary Health distributed a total of 3.55p per share in the first half of 2025, up 2.9%.
PHP also gave an update regarding its proposed acquisition of peer Assura. Since Assura recommended PHP's takeover offer two weeks ago, PHP said it has been discussing forming a joint venture, which is expected to include the private hospital portfolio.
In European equities on Monday, the Cac 40 in Paris closed up 0.3%, while the Dax 40 in Frankfurt ended up 1.1%.
The pound was quoted at 1.36 dollars at the time of the London equities close on Monday, flat compared to Friday. The euro stood at 1.17 dollars, slightly lower than Friday.
Stocks in New York were lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.7%, the S&P 500 index down 0.6%, and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.7%.
The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 4.39%, widening from 4.33%. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury was quoted at 4.92%, widening from 4.85%.
Brent oil was quoted higher at 68.84 dollars a barrel at the time of the London equities close on Monday.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were 3i, up 134.00p at 4,176.00p, Babcock, up 28.00p at 1,101.00p, International Consolidated Airlines, up 8.20p at 354.80p, easyJet, up 8.80p at 531.60p, and Standard Chartered, up 20.04p at 1,227.04p.
The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Shell, down 75.00p at 2,553.00p, JD Sports, down 2.16p at 87.88p, BP, down 7.50p at 371.75p, Haleon, down 6.60p at 371.30p, and Howden Joinery, down 14.22p at 817.28p.
On Tuesday's economic calendar, the US has consumer inflation expectations, and Australia has an interest rate decision.
On Tuesday's UK corporate calendar, there are full-year results from Celebrus Technologies, Optima Health and Solid State.
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The Guardian
25 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Tread carefully with reform of bank ringfencing, chancellor
Rachel Reeves called it 'the biggest set of reforms to financial regulation in a decade', and, in one narrow sense, her Leeds Reforms would qualify for the description. If the ringfencing regime for banks were to be scrapped, we really would be entering a new era – or going back to an old one, since the separation of banks' retail and investment banking activities was the single biggest regulatory change introduced after the 2008-09 crash to try to prevent another blow-up. Reeves on Tuesday, however, merely announced a review to look at how reforms to ringfencing could 'strike the right balance between growth and stability, including protecting consumer deposits'. One hopes that does not mean outright abolition, which is what banks such as HSBC, Lloyds and NatWest have been urging on the grounds that the rules trap capital and impede growth. The stout defence of ringfencing from Andrew Bailey, governor of the Bank of England, has always felt more compelling: the regime has made banks safer and removal would increase the cost of loans and mortgages. It would surely be hard for a chancellor to override the Bank on this core question, especially when Barclays – which, in theory, might have most to gain from abolition as it has the largest investment bank – is also in the defence camp. A fudged outcome would see more activities allowed within the ringfenced entity. It is technical stuff, but also deeply important. Get it wrong and the cautious voices sounding the alarm over a government in search of a sugar-rush of growth via financial deregulation would have a point. Tread carefully, chancellor: ditching ringfencing in its entirety risks unlearning the lessons of the last crisis. In other respects, however, Reeves's red tape-slashing, investment-boosting, obstacle-removing reforms can be criticised in the other direction: yes, some changes are sensible tidying-up exercises but others are underwhelming. Take the showbiz headliner: the advertising campaign to encourage over-cautious savers to push a few quid into the stock market. The goal is admirable in itself for the reasons the Treasury gives: savers are doing themselves long-term financial harm if they do not understand that shares beat cash over most long-term periods. • Looser mortgage rules, which allow lenders to provide bigger mortgages worth more than 4.5 times borrowers' annual income. 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Reuters
28 minutes ago
- Reuters
Analysts react to increase of US consumer prices in June
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