Trending tickers: Intel, Tesla, GameStop, Inditex and Prudential
Following talks in London, US and Chinese negotiators announced overnight that they had agreed on a framework to restore their trade truce. There are hopes that a de-escalation in trade tensions, would lead to Washington easing curbs on US exports of semiconductors to China.
Read more: Spending review: Rachel Reeves unveils more funding for schools, NHS and defence
Ahead of the meeting, Kevin Hassett, director of the White House National Economic Council, told CNBC on Monday: "Our expectation is that ... immediately after the handshake, any export controls from the US will be eased, and the rare earths will be released in volume, and then we can go back to negotiating smaller matters."
Prior to this latest truce announcement, chip stocks rose more broadly, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Stock Exchange (^SOX) closing Tuesday's session up 2%.
Shares in electric vehicle maker Tesla (TSLA) rose nearly 2% in pre-market trading on Wednesday morning, as the feud between CEO Elon Musk and US president Donald Trump cooled off.
In a post on X on Wednesday morning, Musk said: "I regret some of my posts about president [Trump] last week. They went too far."
Read more: FTSE 100 LIVE: Stocks rise as traders await UK spending review and US-China trade update
Tesla (TSLA) shares tanked last week, as the public fallout between Musk and Trump escalated. The stock has recovered over the past few sessions, as tensions between the two appeared to cool off.
Shares were also higher as the Tesla's robotaxi rollout gained steam. On Monday night, Tesla was listed as an autonomous vehicle (AV) operator on Austin's Transportation and Public Works website, ahead of the reported June 12 targeted start of Tesla's robotaxi service.
Shares in GameStop (GME) slipped 4.2% in pre-market trading on Wednesday, after the video game retailer posted a fall in sales in the first quarter.
GameStop said net sales fell to $732.4m (£543.1m) in the first quarter, down from $881.8m for the same period last year. Meanwhile, diluted earnings per share came in at $0.09, which was up from a loss of $0.11 per share in the first quarter of last year.
Read more: Stocks that are trending today
Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "GameStop shares came under pressure in pre-market trading as the one-time 'meme stock' missed revenue forecasts.
"The company invests heavily in bitcoin but it seems investors still care about the core retail operations. The sales miss overshadowed better-than-expected earnings."
Zara-owner Inditex (ITX.MC) fell 4.4% on Wednesday morning, after the Spanish clothing company reported weaker-than-expected first quarter sales.
Inditex posted first quarter revenue of €8.27bn (£7bn), which was below average analyst estimates of €8.36bn, according to a Reuters report. Profit before tax was flat at €1.7bn, while net income edged just 0.8% higher to €1.3bn.
Read more: Pound dips ahead of Rachel Reeves' spending review
"Inditex is the eurozone's equivalent of Next (NXT.L) — a company that sets the gold standard for its sector. When it disappoints on trading, shockwaves are felt across the retail industry," said AJ Bell's Mould.
"A lot of Inditex's success has come from the way its business is run. It is the master of efficiency and has fine-tuned operations so everything runs smoothly," he said. "It is able to get new designs onto the shop floor quickly so it can stay on top of latest fashion trends. It's a great position to be in, except some things are out of its control."
"If the consumer is worried about the economy and is watching every penny, retailers are going to struggle to shift goods unless they discount hard," Mould added.
Insurer Prudential (PRU.L) was the biggest riser on the UK's FTSE 100 (^FTSE) on Wednesday morning, up 2.4% at the time of writing.
The rise in shares came following news of the US and China's latest trade truce, given Prudential is an Asia-focused financial firm.
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Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said: "Having flirted with its record high on several occasions yesterday, the FTSE 100 breezed past the record closing level once more at the open, driven by a rising global tide which is lifting all boats.
"Stocks at the sharp end of Asian focus were particular beneficiaries, with the likes of Standard Chartered (STAN.L), Prudential and HSBC (HSBA.L) posting healthy gains, while the banks more generally resumed their onward march and selective buying among the miners typified a more risk-on approach."
Read more:
The UK's rental boom is over
What you need to know about UK's private stock market Pisces
Stocks to watch this week: TSMC, Adobe, Tesco, Bellway and Inditex
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"Selling lease-holding land plots has been an easy way to raise government revenues and then pass the costs onto ordinary consumers who will then pay everything back in the next 30 years," Deng said. "This is a long-term scheme for both parties. China will face the consequences in the next generation's time." Can China's Property Sector Downfall Be Stopped? According to Lubin, there are "mild signs of stabilization" in China's real estate market, even though they do not represent a significant shift. "The official 'real estate climate index' troughed in May 2024 and has been rising modestly since then, but nothing to write home about, and real estate price inflation is still negative," he said. "The sector remains under a lot of pressure, therefore, and there's something of a vicious circle at work: Real estate is weak because household confidence is weak because real estate is weak," Lubin said. 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Xing agrees with this gloomy vision for China's property sector's future. "China urbanization is slowing and is now close to 70 percent," he said. "The room for builders is getting limited. I do not expect any strong policy support for property development going forward. Policy priority changes to urban renewal." Xing and his team estimate that new home sales in the country will decline by another 30 percent in the next few years.
