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London stocks fell in early trade on Friday as Trump’s decision to delay tariffs on some products from Mexico and Canada failed to boost sentiment, and as investors eyed the latest US non-farm payrolls report.
At 0830 GMT, the FTSE 100 was down 0.4% at 8,651.67.
Trump’s tariffs were still very much in focus. After the London close on Thursday, the US President signed executive actions to delay until 2 April tariffs on all products from Mexico and Canada that are covered by the USMCA free trade treaty.
Earlier announced import tariffs of 25% on steel and aluminium are still scheduled to take effect on 12 March.
Stephen Innes, manager partner at SPI Asset Management, said: “Wall Street got clobbered by a nasty cocktail of historic layoffs, a record trade deficit, and lingering trade war confusion. Trump may have thrown a bone with temporary tariff exemptions, but traders weren’t biting. All three major US indices sank as the fog of uncertainty thickened.
“Now, all eyes are on Friday’s US jobs report and Powell’s speech. Sentiment is already circling the drain, and if Powell doesn’t deliver a dovish lifeline, markets may be in for an even rougher ride. The bar for a relief rally keeps rising, and at this rate, it might take a full-blown Fed pivot to shake off the gloom.”
The non-farm payrolls report for February is due at 1330 GMT, along with average earnings and the unemployment rate.
Danske Bank expects payrolls to have slowed to a 120,000 increase from 143,000 in January “due to negative seasonality, federal layoffs and slowing immigration constraining the growth of labour supply”.
On home shores, investors were mulling the latest data from mortgage lender Halifax, which showed that house prices unexpectedly dipped in February.
Prices nudged down 0.1% following a 0.6% increase in January, and versus expectations for them to tick up 0.3%.
On the year, house prices were up 2.9% in February, unchanged on the previous month.
The average price of a home stood at £298,602, down from £298,815.
Amanda Bryden, head of mortgages at Halifax, said: “February’s figures highlight the delicate balance within the UK housing market. While there’s been talk of a last minute rush on new mortgages ahead of the changes to stamp duty, inevitably we’ve seen some of the demand that was brought forward start to fade as the April deadline ticks closer, given the time needed to complete a purchase.
“That may help to explain why growth in first-time buyer property prices eased in February, falling to +2.4%, in contrast to homemover price inflation which accelerated, reaching +3.7%
“While house price growth has slowed overall, market activity remains strong and comparable to pre-pandemic levels, demonstrating a resilience amongst buyers that’s been evident in the face of higher borrowing costs.
“While those affordability challenges persist, the ongoing shortage of housing supply coupled with sustained demand suggests property prices will continue to rise this year, albeit at a more measured pace compared to last year.”
Ashley Webb, UK economist at Capital Economics, said: “The small 0.1% m/m fall in Halifax house prices in February is at odds with the 0.4% m/m rise in the Nationwide measure and suggests the recent rise in mortgage rates and/or the weakness in the wider economy is weighing on housing demand and prices a bit more than we previously thought.
“The recent deterioration in the outlook for employment may mean house price growth softens further over the coming months.”
Also earlier, industry research showed that retail footfall nudged higher in February, although at a far slower rate than seen in January.
According to the latest BRC-Sensormatic monitor, footfall increased by 0.2% year-on-year.
The second consecutive monthly increase, it was, however, well below January’s 6.6% jump.
Retail parks reported a 2% rise, well ahead of high streets and shopping centres, which both posted a more modest 0.1% uptick in footfall.
Andy Sumpter, EMEA retail consultant at Sensormatic, said: “After January’s jump-start, retail footfall stalled, with retailers seeing only the slimmest improvements.
“While the good news is that shopper counts remained steady, many would have been hoping for a more substantial leap, building on a strong start to the year.
“With Easter falling late and well into April this year, this will undoubtedly put added pressure on retailers as we head into March.”
There wasn’t much happening in terms of corporate news, but Just Group tumbled as it posted full-year pre-tax profit that missed consensus expectations and struck a cautious note on the outlook.
Premier Inn owner Whitbread lost ground after JPMorgan Cazenove downgraded the shares to ‘neutral’ from ‘overweight’ “on the back of a fragile UK consumer from lower income demographics”.
Top 10 FTSE 100 Risers
| Sponsored by Plus500 |
|
| # | Name | Change Pct | Change | Cur Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
Fresnillo | +2.98% | +25.00 | 863.50 |
| 2 |  |
Vodafone Group Plc | +1.12% | +0.78 | 70.38 |
| 3 |  |
Coca-cola Hbc Ag | +1.01% | +34.00 | 3,396.00 |
| 4 |  |
Hsbc Holdings Plc | +0.99% | +8.70 | 889.70 |
| 5 |  |
Bp Plc | +0.93% | +3.80 | 412.90 |
| 6 |  |
Rolls-royce | +0.80% | +6.40 | 811.20 |
| 7 |  |
Bunzl Plc | +0.73% | +22.00 | 3,042.00 |
| 8 |  |
The Sage Group Plc | +0.70% | +8.50 | 1,230.00 |
| 9 |  |
Wpp Plc | +0.60% | +3.80 | 634.40 |
| 10 |  |
Shell Plc | +0.47% | +12.00 | 2,545.00 |
Top 10 FTSE 100 Fallers
| Sponsored by Plus500 |
|
| # | Name | Change Pct | Change | Cur Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
Schroders Plc | -4.58% | -19.60 | 408.60 |
| 2 |  |
Crh Plc | -2.92% | -230.00 | 7,646.00 |
| 3 |  |
Flutter Entertainment Plc | -2.88% | -580.00 | 19,590.00 |
| 4 |  |
Rentokil Initial Plc | -2.86% | -9.90 | 336.30 |
| 5 |  |
Carnival Plc | -2.22% | -34.00 | 1,494.50 |
| 6 |  |
Diageo Plc | -1.99% | -44.00 | 2,171.00 |
| 7 |  |
Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust Plc | -1.94% | -19.40 | 980.60 |
| 8 |  |
South32 Limited | -1.90% | -3.40 | 176.00 |
| 9 |  |
Banco Santander S.a. | -1.87% | -10.00 | 526.00 |
| 10 |  |
Wise Plc | -1.74% | -16.50 | 932.00 |
US close: Tariff uncertainty hammers stocks, S&P 500 hits four-month low
Continuous fluctuations in America’s trade policies continued to disrupt financial markets on Thursday with US stocks once again falling sharply as ongoing uncertainty hammered risk appetite.
“There wasn’t any bad news to cause a minor sell-off, it’s just one of those days where investors reassessed their portfolios given the uncertain economic and geopolitical backdrop,” said Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell.
The Dow fell 1% to 42,579.08, pulling back after a solid rise on Wednesday, with the index now having lost almost 5% of its value over the past two weeks alone.
The S&P 500 sank 1.8% to 5,738.52, finishing below the 5,800 mark for the first time since early-November. The Nasdaq, meanwhile, tanked 2.6% to 18,069.26 as tech stocks were sold off, pushing the index to its lowest close since early-October.
“American shares are having a mare of a time in 2025 as Donald Trump’s tariff plan leaves more questions than answers, clouding the outlook for the US economy,” Coatsworth said.
In the latest tariff-related news, Donald Trump has delayed his proposed 25% tariffs on goods imported from Mexico and Canada that comply with the USMCA trade agreement. According to reports, that accounts for roughly half of Mexico’s exports to the US, and 37% of Canada’s. The suspension will run until 2 April.
Tech and financial stocks drop
Netflix, Western Digital, Seagate Technology, Broadcom and Nvidia were among the worst performers on the Nasdaq due to a rout in the tech sector.
Netflix, in particular, was falling heavily after analysts at MoffettNathanson Research suggested that the streaming service’s “password-sharing crackdown” would begin to eat into subscriber numbers after a few more quarters of strong figures.
Financial stocks also suffered from a decline in risk appetite as investors fretted about how protectionist trade measures would affect the global economic outlook. Goldman Sachs, American Express, Visa and JPMorgan Chase & Co were among the Dow’s heaviest fallers.
Meanwhile, lingerie group Victoria’s Secret was in the red after revealing Q1 revenues would fall short of analyst expectations, while retailer Macy’s posted better-than-expected quarterly figures but issued downbeat sales and profit guidance for FY25 as a whole.
Economic data takes back seat
Challenger Gray and Christmas revealed job cuts had surged to an almost five-year high last month, up from 49,795 in January to 172,017 in February, due to the actions of the Department of Government Efficiency, as well as cancelled government contracts, trade war fears, and bankruptcies.
Seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims fell by 21,000 over the week ended 1 March to 221,000, according to the Department of Labor, falling short of consensus estimates for an increase of 235,000. Of particular interest, the number of federal government workers filling first-time claims rose by 1,634, against a 614 rise over the previous week.
Meanwhile, wholesale inventories increased 0.8% month-on-month to $906.2bn in January, according to the Census Bureau, slightly higher than advance estimates of 0.7% and following December’s revised 0.4% fall.
Lastly, America’s shortfall on trade with the rest of the world ballooned at the start of 2025, as companies and individuals tried to front run the imposition of new trade tariffs. According to the Department of Commerce, the total trade deficit in goods and services widened by 34.0% to $131.4bn in January. That was well ahead of the -$127.4bn shortfall that the consensus had anticipated.
Friday newspaper round-up: HMV, pension funds, Catherine Mann
UK ministers are preparing to take Roman Abramovich to court in a final attempt to free up more than £2bn from the sale of Chelsea FC to spend as aid in Ukraine, the Guardian has learned. Officials say ministers have become increasingly frustrated by the failure to reach an agreement with the Russian oligarch about how the money should be spent and are now ready to fight him in the courts. – Guardian
HMV has put its UK expansion on hold and is to open stores in Ireland and Belgium instead, because of rising wage costs announced in last autumn’s budget that begin next month. Phil Halliday, the managing director of the entertainment retailer, said it had hoped to open up to 10 more stores in the UK in the coming year but had put that plan on hold as it was “peddling pretty hard” to maintain profits despite strong sales growth. – Guardian
Some of Britain’s biggest pension firms have been accused of blocking Britain’s plans to boost defence in the wake of the Ukraine war. Aviva, Royal London and the National Employment Savings Trust (Nest) are among a group of pension giants that restrict or block investment in the defence industry on “ethical” grounds. – Telegraph
The Bank of England must slash interest rates to shore up the struggling economy, a top policymaker has warned, rejecting Andrew Bailey’s call for “gradual and careful” steps on borrowing costs. Catherine Mann, a member of the Monetary Policy Committee, said the economy was already weak and set to get worse as families and businesses cut back on spending. – Telegraph
The owner of Boots has agreed to be taken over by a US private equity firm in a $10 billion deal. Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA), the US-listed firm, will be taken private following the deal with New York-based Sycamore Partners, which is expected to complete by the end of the year. – The Times
