- FTSE 100 rises 8 points to 8,862
- Big miners fall as Trump threatens 50% copper tariff
- Housebuilders pay £100m to end CMA investigation early
4.17pm: FTSE trundling toward small gain, caught between two stools
The FTSE 100's gains remain small as the final knockings of the day approach.
Big losses for miners, with the likes of Antofagasta, Glencore and Anglo American all down more than 3% after Donald Trump's copper tariff threat, as well as an 18% plunge for WPP after a profit warning, has held back the London index.
Across in the Continent, Germany's DAX and France's CAC benchmarks are both up over 1.3%.
The prospect of an EU trade agreement with the US -- even though it will come with higher tariffs than the UK-US deal -- is boosting sentiment there, with the DAX hitting a new all-time high.
3.53pm: Zonal pricing proposal set to be binned
Energy secretary Ed Miliband has recommended that the UK drops an earlier proposal adoption of zonal pricing for energy.
However, with electricity bills in the UK going from the second lowest in the EU to 19% above the current EU average, while some wind farms are being paid millions to be turned off due to a lack of demand in their local region, analysts and industry say something needs to be done.
Zonal pricing would have split the UK into different pricing zones that reflect local supply and demand dynamics, with the theory being that more generation would be built in areas with high prices and less is built where there is already too much power.
"Affordability has been at the heart of this debate, but it is the suggestion zonal will cause business uncertainty, at a time when the UK are in a period of deep investment, that seems to have swung it," says Joshua Sherrard-Bewhay, ESG analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.
For energy companies, he suggests such a big change "may cause industry uncertainty, raise the cost of capital, and offset the savings zonal pricing could offer. British utilities and transmission networks are investing huge sums of capital for the UK to achieve its target of 100% clean electricity by 2030."
He suggested there was a rift between legacy energy companies, like Centrica, and technology-driven providers like Octopus Energy, which are more agile and tech-focussed are better placed adapt to these sorts of proposals.
3.25pm: Nvidia the founding member of the $4trn club
Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA, ETR:NVD) has become the first $4 trillion company.
Shares in the semiconductor giant climbed 2.6% to $164 in early trading in New York, taking the company's market cap into the new realm for the corporate world.
It was January 2022 when Apple became the first company with a $3 trillion valuation and it was June last year when Nvidia also surpassed that mark.
It is "a historic moment for US markets", said Matt Britzman, analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, who reveals that he owns shares in the chipmaker.
"Once known for powering video games, NVIDIA has transformed into a foundational player in AI infrastructure," he says.
"The key question is where it goes from here, and while it might seem strange for a company that’s just passed the $4 trillion mark, NVIDIA still looks attractive.
"Growth is expected to slow, and it’s likely to lose some market share as competition and custom solutions ramp up. But trading at a relatively modest 32 times expected earnings, and over 50% top-line growth forecast this year, there’s still an attractive opportunity ahead."
Another Nvidia liker, Dan Ives at Wedbush, agrees it is "a historical moment" and was an example of "the tech space flexing its muscles, and speaks to the AI revolution hitting its next stage of growth led by the one chip fueling AI".
He calls CEO Jensen Huang "the godfather of AI" and says Nvidia and Microsoft are the "poster childs for the AI revolution" and "building on the biggest tech trend we have seen in our 25 years covering tech stocks on the Street".
Ives sees Microsoft also hitting the $4 trillion market cap club this summer, "and then over the next 18 months the focus will be on the $5 trillion club".
Lots of people pointing out that it's only been 7yrs since Apple became the world's first trillion dollar stock, but it's even more amazing to me that most investors today were alive when the first company reached $100bn (General Electric in 1995, $211bn in 2025 dollars).
— Mike Bird (@Birdyword) July 9, 2025
3pm: Trump harranguing Fed again
Donald Trump has called for interest rates to be lowered.
He says in a social media post that the Fed rate is "at least 3 points too high", blaming central bank chief Jerome Powell for "costing the US 360 billion dollars a point, per year, in refinancing costs".
The US President points to current low levels of inflation and says companies are "pouring into America", which is "the hottest country in the world".
"LOWER THE RATE!!!"" he concludes, having yesterday said that Powell should resign immediately.
Last month, Trump sent a handwritten letter to Powell calling for ultra-low rates to be brought back. Rates were only lowered to near zero in the wake of the global financial crisis, with the Fed funds rate averaging 5.4% from 1971 to 2025, versus the current target rate of 4.25-4.5%.
The dollar is stable today.
2.49pm: Wall Street opens higher
Stocks have opened higher, led by the Nasdaq, which has risen almost 1%.
The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones are both up 0.7%, as with the Russell 2000.
Top riser on the S&P is AES Corp (NYSE:AES), with shares in the renewable power provider jumping 12% as it was revealed to be exploring options including a potential sale, according to a Bloomberg report.
1.28pm: Thames Water escapes bonus clawback scheme
Senior executives at Thames Water are facing renewed scrutiny after it emerged that millions of pounds in bonus payments under a controversial retention scheme cannot be reclaimed by regulators.
Ofwat confirmed the April payouts fall outside new rules designed to ban such bonuses, as none of the recipients were board members.
Thames Water paused plans to award £18.5 million in bonuses linked to securing a £3 billion emergency loan amid backlash.
However, the initial £2.5 million tranche was already paid on April 30, excluding the chairman, CEO, and CFO.
12.45pm: Wall Street futures are up
US stock futures are now indicating a positive start today.
Those for the Dow Jones are up 0.25%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures are both up 0.2%.
The FTSE 100, which just after the stroke of midday reached almost 8,888, its highest in over three week, has eased back a little from there.
12.31pm: More support for UK housing market planned
Adding to all the other housebuilder news today, Rachel Reeves is expected to announce a permanent mortgage guarantee scheme next week as part of broader efforts to support first-time buyers during periods of economic stress, the Financial Times has reported.
The programme, to be called 'Freedom to Buy', will be unveiled in Reeves’ upcoming Mansion House speech on July 15, the report said.
According to officials cited, the move is part of Labour’s commitment to easing access to home ownership, particularly for those with low deposits.
A mortgage guarantee scheme was introduced under the previous Conservative government in 2021 as a temporary response to the housing market challenges during the Covid-19 pandemic. That initiative expired at the end of June.
Under the new framework, lenders offering 95% loan-to-value (LTV) mortgages will receive government backing in the event of repossession, with the Treasury charging fees to cover potential losses.
11.47am: German benchmark hits new high
Germany's DAX has hit a new all-time high, climbing over 1% to 24,480 this morning.
Encouraging words out of the EU-US trade talks are helping.
Industrial giants Siemens and BASF are top of the risers, followed by financial sector pair Allianz and Deutsche Bank.
Germany’s 10-year bond yield was little moved at 2.69% this morning.
The UK’s 10-year gilt yield – an indicator of the cost of government borrowing – was down nearly two basis points to 4.62pc.
11.16am: Housebuilders 'play get out of jail free card'
Today's news on the £100 million paid by seven housebuilders ties in with the recommendations by Sir Brian Leveson to help clear Britain's legal backlog.
Essentially, a handful of the UK's largest housebuilders have offered an out-of-court settlement for an early end to the CMA's investigation into suspected breaches of competition law, paying money to the government to support one of its key policies, affordable housing.
The CMA is now consulting for just over two weeks on this proposal.
With Barratt Redrow putting out a statement indicating that its share would be £29 million, analyst Clyde Lewis at Peel Hunt said the payments vary according to the respective size of each of the seven businesses.
"We do not believe this changes much for the sector in terms of the near-term outlook, which continues to struggle with muted end-demand caused by high interest/mortgage rates and wider economic and political uncertainty," Lewis adds.
Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell, says: "It was probably the quickest decision ever made in the boardroom as the last thing housebuilders want is to have their reputation soured by a drawn-out investigation into anti-competitive practices."
He said the £100 million is "peanuts" to "make a big problem go away" and the government is happy as extra money is put into the affordable housing pot.
"The industry has already been through various crises in recent years, such as concerns about poor build quality, mis-selling around leaseholds and fire safety.
"Housebuilders certainly don’t want to be dragged over the coals again, particularly at a point where the outlook for the property market is starting to improve amid falling interest rates."
He adds: "The housebuilders aren’t admitting they’ve done anything wrong, yet they’ve probably used up their get out of jail free card."
10.58am: EU trade talks, Bailey talks financial stability
BoE's chief Andrew Bailey has warned that risks and uncertainty are still "elevated".
He is speaking after the publication of the lateast Financial Stability Report.
Earlier, Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said the EU is preparing for "all scenarios" as it works on a trade deal with the US.
The EU is currently in talks with Washington over a trade agreement, with the FT reporting that the bloc's negotiators are closing in on a trade deal that would see higher tariffs than those agreed between the US and UK.
Brussels is ready to sign a temporary framework agreement keeping "reciprocal" tariffs at 10% while talks on a full trade deal continue, the rerport said.
Von der Leyen told media: "We stick to our principles, we defend our interests, we continue to the work in good faith, and we get ready for all scenarios."
10.22am: Copper tariffs view
On the copper tariffs, UBS's Haefele says that while the 50% headline figure is high, "metals traders and markets have anticipated US copper tariffs and have responded by building up US inventories in recent months".
"We think this stockpiling should help cushion the initial impact, but once tariffs take effect and lower-duty copper stockpiles are depleted, US buyers could face materially higher prices."
On Trump's floated 200% tariff rate on pharmaceuticals, the UBS team thinks this is "unlikely to materialize, in our view, given the cost it would impose on drugs and the recent reduction in Medicaid coverage", while re-shoring US manufacturing "would require a longer lead time than this suggests, in our view".
"More broadly, the timing of these copper and pharma tariff threats, coming alongside revived reciprocal tariff threats and the new bilateral trade deal deadline, suggests the Trump administration is trying to pressure the EU and other trade partners into faster deals by creating uncertainty and risk.
"We caution against over-reacting in the near term given the lack of clarity on what policy will actually stick and on potential implementation dates."
Elsewhere, Citi called it a "watershed moment" for the copper market, which could "abruptly close the window for further significant US-bound copper shipments".
Italian copper cables group's shares are up 3.8%.
Citi and Deutsche Bank have highlighted Prysmian as a "relative tariff winner", with a US low-voltage business that sources its raw copper from a Freeport mine in Arizona and operates its own copper rod mill in Texas rather than buying copper rod from suppliers.
"As such, its domestic, vertically integrated set-up in copper gives it a competitive edge compared to smaller players in our view," said Citi.
Imposition of copper tariffs has the "potential to further provide mid-term support to US Industrial & Construction margins".
10.17am: 'This is not trade war escalation'
Donald Trump’s tariff letters "do not signal trade war escalation", says UBS chief investment officer Mark Haefele.
This follows the US President's firmer stance on social media that "no extensions will be granted" beyond 1 August, along with threatened levies of up to 200% on foreign drugs and 50% on copper (neither with a firm timeline, though Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said copper tariffs could be implemented by 1 August).
"Despite the escalating rhetoric, investor sentiment was largely stable on Tuesday, except for copper futures," says Haefele.
The S&P 500 was pretty much flat overnight and the UBS team "continue to expect various sector-specific tariffs to follow, and there remains significant uncertainty over the scope and shape of these Secion 232 tariffs.
"Market volatility is likely to pick up, but the latest development does not constitute an escalation in the trade war, in our view."
Country-specific deals and arrangements are expected by UBS in the coming weeks, which could include a baseline tariff and selective quotas or exemptions from sectoral tariffs in exchange for purchase commitments or US investment pledges.
"It is worth noting that the impact of 'reciprocal' tariffs can be less than the announced headline rate after taking the carveouts into consideration," he adds.
Also it was noted that while Trump said he is only days away from sending a tariff letter to the European Union, he also said trade talks have been going well with the bloc, with Reuters earlier this week reporting that the EU is close to an agreement with the US that may include concessions on aircraft, medical equipment, and alcohol.
While the US administration may choose to pursue elevated tariffs for more leverage, a prolonged period of higher levies "would likely increase economic costs and could bring political consequences for both Trump and the Republican Party ahead of the midterm elections next year", Haefele adds, saying UBS continues to recommend global equities or diversified portfolios to navigate volatility ahead.
10.01am: FTSE lagging European rivals
The FTSE 100's tiny gain due to the weight from miners and the massive drop from WPP, means it is lagging other European markets.
The DAX and CAC are up 0.8% in Frankfurt and Paris.
"Tariff uncertainty continues to take centre stage," sums up market analyst Victoria Scholar at ii, after Donald Trump announced plans for a 50% levy on copper, threatened a 200% tariff on pharmaceuticals and said there would be ‘no extensions’ to the 1st August deadline.
US futures are pointing modestly lower today, after markets oscillated between gains and losses yesterday, with the major indices closing roughly flat.
"Gold is trading around a one-week low and the Japanese yen has weakened to two-week lows against the US dollar. Meanwhile oil appears to be retreating from two-week highs," Scholar observes.
She also flags inflation numbers in China, where the consumer price index hit 0.1% in June year-on-year, topping analysts’ expectations to mark the first increase since January.
However, China's producer price index slumped by 3.6%, the biggest drop since July 2023 and below expectations for a drop of 3.2%.
On WPP, Scholar says the ad group has "faced an uphill battle with stiff competition from rivals like Publicis, which overtook WPP to become the world’s largest ad agency last year" and "the rapid ascent of very high-quality AI content risks cannibalising WPP’s core offering".
9.38am: Barratt Redrow pays highest amount
Housebuilders have issued comments on the CMA investigation and £100 million payment and proposals for new legally binding rules to prevent collusion between industry players.
Persimmon PLC (LSE:PSN) notes that the competition watchdog has proposed accepting commitments not to share commercially sensitive information and close its investigation "without making any finding that Persimmon plc and its group companies has infringed UK competition law".
It stresses how it has "worked constructively with the CMA throughout its enquiry" and that its decision to offer voluntary commitments "does not constitute an admission of any wrongdoing nor does it imply that Persimmon agrees with the concerns expressed by the CMA in the investigation".
Its contribution is £15.24 million, while fellow FTSE 100-listed builder Barratt Redrow PLC (LSE:BTRW) is paying £29 million.
Barratt said it also "engaged proactively and constructively" with the investigation, "including by voluntarily offering binding commitments alongside the other parties in response to the potential concerns investigated by the CMA, and with a view to resolving expeditiously the investigation".
It also adds that the offer of voluntary commitments "does not constitute an admission of any wrongdoing by Barratt Redrow and nothing in the commitments may be construed as implying that Barratt Redrow agrees with any concerns expressed by the CMA in the investigation".
Taylor Wimpey PLC (LSE:TW.) and Bellway PLC (LSE:BWY) and Vistry Group PLC (LSE:VTY) made almost identical comments.
TW's share of the financial contribution will be £15.84 million, while FTSE 250-listed pair Vistry and Bellway said they are contributing £12.8 million and £13.5 million.
9.05am: CBI recommends changes to boost London stock market
The UK’s stock market is facing a “slow erosion” that demands urgent government action, according to a new report from the CBI, published just days before Chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to unveil reforms in her upcoming Mansion House speech.
'Revitalising UK Public Markets' is the "roadmap" from the group representing UK businesses, highlighting the worrying decline in the number of listed companies, falling liquidity, and reduced investor interest, especially in small and mid-cap firms.
With this contraction threatening to undermine the London Stock Exchange’s position as a global financial hub and depriving British businesses of vital capital needed for growth and innovation, the CBI has suggested 20 measures that the Treasury, Department for Business and Trade, regulators and LSE could do to improve things.
London stands at "a critical juncture" and the CBI divides its suggested actions into four pillars: developing a new narrative, improving liquidity and competitiveness, strengthening the IPO pipeline and rebalancing stewardship responsibilities between active and passive investment approaches.
Ideas include making IPO costs tax deductible, reviewing regulatory barriers to private investment in public equity (PIPE), removing stamp duty in ISAs, increasing disclosure and potentially incentives on pension fund investment in UK equity, a marketing campaign to promote equity investment to the public, and implifying annual reporting.
8.51am: Zigup zigs down, Close Bros closes down motor finance arm
Biggest fallers on the FTSE 250 are Close Brothers Group PLC (LSE:CBG) and Zigup PLC (LSE:ZIG).
Zigup, known as Redde Northgate until last year, shares are down almost 8% as the fleet management and vehicle rental group reported an 8% decline in profit for the past year and kept its outlook unchanged.
Analyst Andy Smith at Panmure Liberum says PBT was ahead of consensus forecasts. "A decline had been expected but within these results there was several moving parts with growth in rental activities offset by declines in profits on vehicle disposals and Claim & Services."
Shares in Close Bros have dropped almost 7% as the merchant bank said it is leaving the Premium Finance business, which provides loans for people to pay for car and home insurance in instalments.
A move to concentrate on commercial lines insurance will hit profits, it acknowledged.
It follows rising competition and compensation claims in the motor finance subsector, which has led to regulatory intervention.
8.34am: WPP warns on profits
Biggest faller in the Footsie now, by a long way, is WPP PLC (LSE:WPP), where the shares have dropped 16% now trading following what is effectively a profit warning.
The advertising and marketing giant sounded the alarm as it pointed to a tougher economic environment and weaker new business as reasons for the revision.
The company now expects first-half like-for-like revenue to fall between 4.2% and 4.5%, with the second quarter’s decline steepening to 5.5% to 6.0%, down from earlier forecasts to reflect one-off impacts alongside broader macroeconomic challenges.
8.14am: FTSE rises, held back by miners
The FTSE 100 has opened 22 points higher at just above 8,876, led by defensive stocks.
Cigarette makers British American Tobacco (LSE:BATS) and Imperial Brands PLC (LSE:IMB) are up near the top of the risers, as well as defence & aerospace groups Babcock International PLC (LSE:BAB), BAE Systems PLC (LSE:BA.) and Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC (LSE:RR.).
Top of the tree is Smith & Nephew PLC (LSE:SN).
Miners, Antofagasta PLC (LSE:ANTO), Glencore PLC (LSE:GLEN) and Anglo American PLC (LSE:AAL) are all down over 2% on the threat of a US copper tariff.
8am: Copper soaring
Copper prices are soaring to all-time highs.
Yesterday saw a record gain for US copper futures after President Trump said copper would face 50% tariffs.
The 13.25% jump in copper to around $5.5 per lb was the biggest daily jump in available data back to the late-1980s, according to Deutsche Bank.
After dipping back to $5.41, this morning futures are back up 3.7% to above $5.64, hitting all-time highs.
Deutsche's Jim Reid also flags "renewed jitters in global bond markets around fiscal sustainability", which meant yields rose in pretty much every major economy, starting with Japan and moving into Europe and the US.
As well as shaking his copper tariffs stick, Trump also said "no extensions will be granted" to the August 1 deadline on the reciprocal tariffs, a shift in tone from his comments at the start of the week.
As well as this hardening up of the rhetoric, Reid notes that Trump also took a hard line against the BRICS countries again, even though he had previously noted that he was close to a deal with India, with a more hawkish tone as he indicated that some countries would be seeing a 60% or 70% tariff rate and that sectoral tariffs are coming.
"While pharma, autos, and steel have been well flagged, the President proposed a 50% rate on copper products and said that some drug levies could reach as high as 200%, although the President stated that the pharma tariffs would only come after a 'year or year and half'."
7.48am: Jet2 results
AIM's largest company has posted results that look ahead of expectations, though visibility for the year ahead is a little cloudy.
Pre-tax profits from Jet2 PLC (AIM:JET2) increased 12% to £593.2 million, while profit before FX revaluation and taxation was up 11% to £577.7 million, both of which were well above the £565-570 million range it indicated in a year-end update.
Bookings for this summer are being made later than usual, though demand "remains strong, provided pricing is attractive".
While he is satisfied with progress for FY26 to date, chief executive Steve Heapy says he remains "mindful of the late booking profile which limits forward visibility and the evolving geo-political and economic landscapes".
7.25am: Housebuilders 'fined' £100m
A £100 million voluntary payment (essentially a fine that is not a fine) has been (self-) slapped on seven housebuilders – Barratt Redrow, Bellway, Berkeley Group, Bloor Homes, Persimmon, Taylor Wimpey and Vistry – following a competition probe into concerns that companies were colluding.
The Competition and Markets Authority launched the investigation in 2023 as it was worried about building firms exchanging details about sales, including pricing, number of property viewings and incentives offered to buyers such as upgraded kitchens or stamp duty contributions.
This has led to the seven builders offering to make a combined £100 million payment, which will be split between affordable housing programmes across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
They have agreed not to share certain types of information with other housebuilders, including the prices houses have been sold for, except in limited circumstances, and will work with the Home Builders Federation and Homes for Scotland to develop industry-wide guidance on information sharing.
It is the largest payment secured by the CMA as part of a commitments package, though the companies do not admit any liability or wrongdoing for the conduct subject to investigation.
7.16am: FTSE 100 called higher despite threat of pharma and copper tariffs
The FTSE 100 is expected to extend its gains on Wednesday despite a new threat from Donald Trump of potential 50% tariffs on copper and a levy of 200% on pharmaceuticals.
London's blue-chip index was called 12 points higher on the futures market, adding to the almost 48 points gained the day before, which closed at 8,854.18.
It was a mixed session on Wall Street overnight, with the Dow Jones falling 0.4%, the S&P 500 just below flat and the Nasdaq just above, while the small and mid-caps of the Russell 2000 rose 0.7%.
Asian markets are mixed, with the Hang Seng down over 1% in Hong Kong, while the Nikkei typifies trading elsewhere, with a 0.2% gain.
Market analyst Derren Nathan at Hargreaves Lansdown said Trump's "war of words on international trade has intensified again" as he touted the prospect of tariffs on copper and pharmaceuticals, which have traditionally been sheltered from import charges.
"The President also said that semiconductor tariffs will be announced soon. But details of when how and who remain thin on the ground.
"Confusion has become the new normal with Asian stocks showing little in the way of firm direction overnight.
"And despite the heavy weighting of pharmaceutical and mining companies on the FTSE 100, the index is expected to hold onto most of yesterday’s small gains at the open."
Wednesday 9 July
Ahead of final results from Jet2 PLC, analysts at Panmure Liberum doled out a downgrade as they predict more modest profit growth ahead.
The last update from the leisure airline in March saw it announce a £250 million share buyback alongside guiding to full-year profits of between £565 million and £570 million for the 12 months to 31 March.
Announcements expected:
Finals: Jet2, Renold, System1 Group, Zigup
Economic announcements: Inflation (CHN), MBA Mortgage Applications (US), Wholesale Inventories (US), Crude Oil Inventories (US)