- Dow tumbles almost 400 points
- FTSE 100 off 22 points
- April retail sales rise 1.2%
- AJ Bell soars on H1 performance
16.59: FTSE closes in the red
The FTSE 100 Index closed at 8,718 on Friday, down 22 points or 0.2%.
The index was initially lifted by gains in metal miners and positive UK retail sales data, but later reversed course as Wall Street fell following US tariff threats from President Trump, including a proposed 50% tariff on the EU and potential iPhone tariffs.
14.50: More Trump chaos
So, more on the story before - and an update on the Trump bi-polar trade strategy, which hit the US stock market and jolted the FTSE 100 from its somnolent state.
The President escalated trade tensions by threatening a 50% tariff on European Union goods and warning that iPhones made abroad could face steep duties.
The move targets both a key trading bloc and Apple, one of the world's most valuable companies.
Markets reacted swiftly, with the Dow Jones down almost 400 points and the Nasdaq off 280, leaving the UK stocks benchmark 57 points lower.
Investors turned to traditional safe havens, pushing up demand for government bonds, the Swiss franc, Japanese yen and gold.
The dollar weakened and Treasury yields retreated after recent gains driven by concern over US fiscal policy. While US and EU officials were due to review trade talks, G7 finance ministers ended their summit with a brief statement that barely referenced trade and avoided any mention of tariffs.
1.10pm: Oops, he's done it again!
The FTSE 100 fell sharply after US President Donald Trump was reported to have threatened Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL, ETR:APC) with a 25% tariff if production of its iPhones wasn't shifted to the US. He also threatened the European Union with a 50% tariff from 1 June, sending the Frankfurt's DAX 1.6% lower.
"All the optimism over trade deals wiped out in minutes – seconds, even," commented City Index and FOREX.com analyst Fawad Razaqzada.
This is what Trump posted on social media initially: "I have long ago informed Tim Cook of Apple that I expect their iPhone’s that will be sold in the United States of America will be manufactured and built in the United States, not India, or anyplace else. If that is not the case, a Tariff of at least 25% must be paid by Apple to the US. Thank you for your attention to this matter!"
AND, according to Razaqzada, just now this is what he posted:
“The European Union, which was formed for the primary purpose of taking advantage of the United States on TRADE, has been very difficult to deal with...”
The Footsie is now 106 points down at 8,633.22, a loss of 1.21%.
Nasdaq futures are now down 1.9%, while Dow futures are 1.5% lower and those for the S&P 500 are 1.6% softer.
12.55pm: Footsie reverses course
The FTSE 100 headed into the red in early afternoon trading, with US stocks also set to open lower as investors continue to digest the House of Representatives' passing of President Donald Trump's 'One Big Beautiful Bill' by a single vote.
The blue chip index was down 82 points, or 0.94%, at 8,657.39 shortly before 1pm.
In the US, Nasdaq futures were 0.4% down ahead of the open, with those for the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 both around 0.3% lower.
11.35am: Airline stocks well bid
After updates from easyJet and Ryanair, the market appears unconvinced that any slowdown in air travel is imminent. In fact, confidence in the sector is building.
Fears that Donald Trump’s tariff moves would spark a global economic downturn and dent transatlantic traffic have eased. Sentiment has shifted sharply, with investors now more relaxed about the outlook for airlines.
Shares in easyJet and British Airways parent IAG were well bid on Friday, rising 4% and 2% respectively.
The FTSE 100 pared its gains to trade just 5 points higher to 8,744.21.
10.40am: Big movers among the smaller caps
Looking beyond the Footsie bellwethers, some of the smaller cap stocks are making big gains this morning - and big losses.
Shares in Critical Mineral Resources PLC (LSE:CMRS) jumped 14% after it announced a copper-silver joint venture in central Morocco. The £1.3 million-backed deal could give CMR a 60% stake in a promising shallow deposit.
Drilling starts later this year, with plans for a fast-track to production and a 1,000-tonne-per-day plant. The company says low costs and local expertise make this a standout opportunity.
Cambridge Nutritional Sciences shares popped 17% after finally putting a long-running health and safety case to bed. The £35k fine was tied to a former subsidiary and had already been accounted for, so no surprises there.
The court said there was no bad intent, and with the issue now closed, investors breathed a sigh of relief. It clears the decks ahead of the company’s annual report – and that’s helped lift the mood and the share price.
On the flip side, Totally PLC (AIM:TLY) have now tumbled 74% after the company warned its stock could end up worthless. It’s now looking to sell off subsidiaries to cover short-term debts, saying this is the only realistic option.
The board admitted that expected proceeds may not be enough to meet all future liabilities. That bleak outlook spooked investors, wiping out nearly three-quarters of the company’s value and leaving its market cap at just £740,000.
10:35 am: FTSE 100 in green ahead of long weekend
London’s blue-chip benchmark was slightly higher, rising 33 points, with traders in relatively chilled mood, given recent volatility, ahead of the UK Bank Holiday weekend.
At 8,773, the FTSE 100 was up 0.39%.
Sentiments are helped by a cooling of worries over (the latest) US stress, which this week was focused on Donald Trump’s ‘BBB’.
“Global bond markets are calmer this morning, which is helping risk sentiment,” XTB research director Kathleen Brooks said in a note.
“Although the US’s ‘Big, Beautiful, Bill’ has spooked the US Treasury markets this week, rising bond yields seemed to pressurize House Republicans to make cuts to spending, including Medicaid.”
It’s now anticipated that the US Senate, the next cohort to debate the BBB, could potentially help moderate the bill.
“So the cost of this budget could be far less than the current $3 trillion behemoth it currently is,” Brooks added.
10.15am: Consumer confidence on the rise
UK consumer confidence picked up in May, bouncing back after April’s drop, according to GfK’s latest survey. The headline index rose three points to -20, with people feeling a bit more positive about their personal finances and the broader economy. There was also a small rise in the appetite for big-ticket items like furniture and electronics.
GfK’s Neil Bellamy said: “The overall index score increased by three points to -20 in May. Have consumers taken comfort from the Bank of England’s May 8th quarter-point base-rate cut? And have they breathed a tiny sigh of relief since April when the sudden turbulence of the Trump Tariffs was prompting dire warnings of economic damage and a return to inflation?”
At the same time, the ONS said retail sales rose 1.2% in April, helped by strong food sales and sunnier weather.
The Footsie is now 34 points up at 8,773.21, a gain of 0.39%.
8.40: AJ Bell rockets on results
AJ Bell PLC (LSE:AJB)'s shares have jumped 9.9% after posting strong half-year results, with revenue up 17% to £153.2 million and profit before tax rising 12% to £68.8 million.
The platform added 51,000 new customers, taking the total to 593,000, and hit a record £90.4 billion in assets under administration. Its investment arm saw assets grow 10% to £7.5 billion.
AJ Bell returned £64 million to shareholders and launched a new £25 million buyback, while lifting its interim dividend by 6%.
CEO Michael Summersgill says momentum remained strong in April, helped by active customers and continued investment in growth.
The Footsie is currently 29 points up at 8,768.46, a gain of 0.33%.
8.15am: FTSE 100 off to a flying start
The FTSE 100 looks set to enter the bank holiday weekend on the front foot, jumping 28 points, 0.32%, to 8,766.81 in the first 15 minutes of Friday trading.
Endeavour Mining PLC (LSE:EDV, TSX:EDV, OTCQX:EDVMF) led the charge, topping the gainers board with a 1.5% rise as gold gained over 1% to $3,330.88 due to the market uncertainty.
Rentokil Initial PLC (LSE:RTO) and LondonMetric Property PLC (LSE:LMP) have both added about 1%.
Games Workshop is down just over 3%, at the top of the loser board, despite those strong results.
8am: Retailers benefit from sunny spring
Retail sales jumped 1.2% in April, well above expectations, with sunny weather and a late Easter boosting spending. Year-on-year growth jumped to 5%, the highest since 2021. Food sales soared 3.9%, though clothing and garden centres lagged. The strong print lifts Q2 GDP prospects, with analysts now forecasting 0.3% growth even if the rest of the quarter stalls.
"Retail sales roared into spring, with the sunniest April since at least 1910 helping get people out to the shops and defying skyrocketing economic uncertainty as President Trump’s tariffs caused financial market ructions,” commented Rob Wood, Chief UK Economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.
The uptrend is solid, driven by real wage growth and expectations of rate cuts, Wood noted. Consumers are spending despite market ructions.
7.30am: Games Workshop on a roll
Games Workshop Group PLC (LSE:GAW) is one to watch when the market opens this morning.
The owner and licensor of the Warhammer tabletop game, which made it onto the FTSE 100 just before Christmas, has given investors a taste of what to expect when it releases its year-end results at the end of July.
It expects profit before tax set to come in at no less than £255 million for the 52 weeks ending 1 June 2025, up 26% from a year ago. Core revenue should hit at least £560 million, up from £494.7 million last year, while licensing brought in a record £50 million—though the company doesn’t expect to repeat that figure in the coming year.
7.15am: FTSE 100 predicted to rise at the open
The FTSE 100 is expected to open modestly higher on Friday morning as markets settle following a sell-off sparked by rising global bond yields.
London's blue-chip index is predicted on the futures market to rise 20 points at the open, after shedding 47 points to 8,739 yesterday.
US stocks finished Thursday’s session little changed as investors weighed up the latest updates from the White House, including a new tax and spending package.
The S&P 500 closed down 2 points, the Dow Jones shed a single point while the Nasdaq added 0.3%.
Swissquote Bank's Ipek Ozkardeskaya said "the news is far from reassuring" for a sustainable relief.
"US politicians continue to turn a blind eye to the stress building in the sovereign bond space," she commented. "The House of Representatives passed Trump’s ‘beautiful’ tax bill yesterday—with just one vote. But one vote is all it takes to send the bill to the Senate, which is narrowly controlled by the same Republicans who proposed it."T
The bill proposes slashing spending on social programmes and green initiatives to pay for tax cuts. But even if it clears the Senate, it still has to win over bond markets. With US debt piling up, Treasury investors are growing uneasy and may demand higher yields to back Trump’s budget plans.
Asian markets are mixed this morning. The Nikkei 225 is up 0.55%, the BSE Sensex in India has added 1% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng has gained 0.13%. But the Shanghai Composite has dropped 0.7%.