LONDON MARKET MIDDAY: Stocks down but eurozone GDP beats forecasts

Fri, 07th Mar 2025 12:03

(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London were lower midday on Friday, as investors remain nervous despite the latest pause on certain US tariffs.

"More uncertainty around tariffs has weighed on global stock markets," said AJ Bell's Russ Mould. "Even though Donald Trump has made more goods exempt from tariffs on Canada and Mexico, it's the constant tinkering that's upset investors...The fact Trump keeps changing his mind confuses matters as companies have no idea what's going on from one day to the next.

"That also means investors are unsure how to position their portfolios."

The FTSE 100 index was down 35.91 points, 0.4%, at 8,646.93. The FTSE 250 was down 161.23 points, 0.8%, at 19,997.84, and the AIM All-Share was down 1.72 points, 0.3%, at 690.74.

The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.6% at 864.96, the Cboe UK 250 was down 1.0% at 17,389.81, and the Cboe Small Companies was down 0.1% at 15,548.98.

On the FTSE 100, AstraZeneca was down 0.4%.

The Cambridge, England-based pharmaceuticals firm said Imfinzi, or durvalumab, in combination with standard-of-care chemotherapy, demonstrated clinically meaningful improvement in the event-free survival of patients with resectable early-stage gastric and gastroesophageal junction cancers.

British American Tobacco was 0.1% lower.

The London-based maker of cigarette and vaping products said a court-appointed mediator's and monitor's plan of compromise and arrangement has been sanctioned by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.

Last month, the owner of Dunhill and Kent said it had made a provision of GBP6.20 billion, or around ZAR144.00 billion, to cover a settlement related to the tobacco litigation in Canada.

Just Group remained the worst-performing mid-cap, down 12%.

Hunting was among the winners, up 3.5%.

The London-based supplier to the oil and gas industry said it has acquired technology from Aberdeen-based firm Organic Oil Recovery's founding shareholders for a total consideration of USD17.5 million.

Hunting acquired the entire portfolio of intellectual property, with over 25 discreet patents, gaining distribution rights and a California-based laboratory.

Among smaller caps, Serica gained 5.4% and EnQuest surged 14%.

North Sea-focused oil and gas producer Serica has confirmed talks for a possible merger via reverse takeover by EnQuest, which has operations in the UK and Malaysia.

Premier African Minerals lost 33%.

The developer of RHA tungsten and Zulu lithium projects in Zimbabwe announced a subscription to raise GBP600,000 before expenses at an issue price of 0.0125 pence per share.

Mould also noted that housebuilders "seem to be breathing a sigh of relief" after Halifax released house price figures. For example Taylor Wimpey was up 1.3% on the FTSE 100, while Barratt Redrow gained 0.9%.

The average house price decreased 0.1% in February to GBP298,602, and rose 2.9% annually.

"The market has stalled but not slumped as the stamp duty holiday approaches its end," Mould explained.

"While the latest Halifax figures were below expectations, they were hardly a disaster. While the tailwind as people rushed to beat the deadline has now played out, the country's supply and demand dynamics can continue to support property prices."

Mould also noted that "energy stocks BP and Shell were among the [FTSE 100's] rare bright spots as oil prices perked up". Around midday Shell was up 0.2% and BP was up 0.6%.

Brent oil was quoted higher at USD70.52 a barrel at midday in London on Friday from USD68.84 late Thursday.

Gold was also quoted higher at USD2,918.47 an ounce against USD2,916.75.

In European equities on Friday, the CAC 40 in Paris was down 1.0%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was down 1.4%.

The eurozone's gross domestic product growth accelerated in the fourth quarter, Eurostat data showed Friday.

Eurozone GDP grew 1.2% on-year in the fourth quarter, up from 1.0% in the third quarter. The figures were revised upwards from 0.9% Eurostat had reported for both on January 30.

Quarter-on-quarter, growth slowed to 0.2% in the fourth quarter from a 0.4% climb in the third quarter, but beat the preliminary estimate of no change.

Meanwhile in Germany, preliminary talks between conservatives and the Social Democrats, SPD, on forming a government are expected to continue into the weekend, senior representatives from both sides indicated on Friday.

"I assume that it will take a while," said parliamentary leader Alexander Dobrindt from the Bavaria-only Christian Social Union, CSU, noting that negotiators had made time to allow the talks to continue over the next two days.

SPD co-leader Saskia Esken also said she does not expect final results on Friday, as the exploratory talks were due to continue.

The pound was quoted higher at USD1.2915 at midday on Friday in London, compared to USD1.2890 at the equities close on Thursday. The euro stood at USD1.0846, higher against USD1.0827. Against the yen, the dollar was trading lower at JPY147.71 compared to JPY148.10.

Stocks in New York were called higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was called up 0.2%, the S&P 500 index up 0.4%, and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.5%.

Still to come on Friday's economic calendar is most notably the US nonfarm payrolls.

By Emma Curzon, Alliance News reporter

Comments and questions to newsroom@alliancenews.com