London open: FTSE nudges up as US court blocks Trump tariffs
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Thursday 29 May 2025
(Sharecast News) - London stocks ticked higher in early trade on Thursday but gains were muted, after a US court blocked Donald Trump from imposing sweeping global tariffs.
At 0830 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 0.1% at 8,735.23.
In a major blow to Trump's core economic policy, the US Court of International Trade ruled late on Wednesday that Congress alone had exclusive authority to regulate commerce with other countries, and that presidential powers to safeguard the economy did not overrule that.
The ruling invalidates most of Trump's tariffs with immediate effect. The administration has been given ten days to dismantle the regime.
The White House said it would appeal, however, and claimed it was "not for unelected judges to decide how to properly address a national emergency".
Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown, said that confidence towards the FTSE 100, which is weighted towards large multinational corporations, mirrors that seen in Asian markets overnight.
"But in this rapidly evolving landscape the latest development is unlikely to be the last twist in the tale, and the administration has already lodged an appeal," he said. "The world will be watching closely as the United States legal system seeks to hold its highest office to account."
Investors were also reacting to the latest results from Nvidia, which were released after the close on Wednesday and sent the shares up nearly 5% in after-hours trading.
Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, said: "Nvidia's done it again. They delivered another monster earnings report for the first quarter of this year. Revenues were an enormous $44.06bn of revenue for last quarter, beating estimates of $43.2bn, earnings per share also beat estimates at $0.96, versus $0.93.
"Net income was slightly below expectations at $19.89bn, however, Nvidia is the ultimate growth company, risk sentiment has jumped in post market trading, so this has been well tolerated by the market."
In equity markets, equipment rental firm Ashtead - which has significant exposure to the US market - was the top performer on the FTSE 100.
On the downside, Auto Trader tumbled despite delivering a confident outlook alongside its full-year results.
It said group revenues rose 5% to £601.1m over the 12 months to 31 March, as 7% growth at the core Auto Trader platform to £564.8m outweighed a 12% decline in sales at the van-leasing division Autorama to £36.3m. Group operating profits rose 8% to £376.8m.
Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said: "A strong recent run in the share price has led to some significant investor displeasure at the open, given that the results were no more than in line with estimates and with the outlook containing few positive surprises."
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 8,735.23 0.11%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 21,021.82 0.36%
techMARK (TASX) 4,828.47 0.18%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Ashtead Group (AHT) 4,387.00p 1.74%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 338.70p 1.71%
Spirax Group (SPX) 5,905.00p 1.64%
Glencore (GLEN) 276.20p 1.53%
Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 18,435.00p 1.40%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,155.00p 1.32%
Convatec Group (CTEC) 285.40p 1.28%
Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 4,000.00p 1.16%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,209.50p 1.14%
IMI (IMI) 1,971.00p 1.13%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 815.00p -9.44%
National Grid (NG.) 1,033.00p -3.59%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,635.00p -3.20%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 3,852.00p -2.13%
Phoenix Group Holdings (PHNX) 629.50p -2.02%
BAE Systems (BA.) 1,877.50p -1.75%
LondonMetric Property (LMP) 196.60p -1.55%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 376.10p -1.31%
BT Group (BT.A) 172.45p -1.29%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,292.00p -1.26%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,039.50p 3.59%
RHI Magnesita N.V. (DI) (RHIM) 2,905.00p 3.38%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 81.00p 3.18%
Energean (ENOG) 902.00p 2.85%
Edinburgh Worldwide Inv Trust (EWI) 169.00p 2.55%
4Imprint Group (FOUR) 3,620.00p 2.26%
HarbourVest Global Private Equity Limited A Shs (HVPE) 2,485.00p 2.05%
Coats Group (COA) 78.70p 1.94%
Allianz Technology Trust (ATT) 404.00p 1.89%
JPMorgan Global Growth & Income (JGGI) 549.00p 1.86%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Pagegroup (PAGE) 256.40p -2.95%
Hilton Food Group (HFG) 864.00p -2.81%
Domino's Pizza Group (DOM) 255.60p -2.74%
Great Portland Estates (GPE) 330.50p -2.51%
XPS Pensions Group (XPS) 388.50p -2.14%
Grafton Group Ut (CDI) (GFTU) 993.30p -1.85%
Diversified Energy Company (DEC) 1,064.00p -1.75%
Hill and Smith (HILS) 1,868.00p -1.37%
Victrex plc (VCT) 771.00p -1.28%
IntegraFin Holding (IHP) 316.00p -1.25%
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