London open: FTSE ticks higher after US-China trade truce; spending review eyed
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Wednesday 11 Jun 2025
(Sharecast News) - London stocks edged higher in early trade on Wednesday as investors mulled news of a "framework" trade truce between the US and China, with all eyes on Chancellor Rachel Reeves' spending review and a key US inflation reading.
At 0825 BST, the FTSE 100 was 0.2% firmer at 8,868.87.
After two days of Sino-US trade talks in London, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said both sides had agreed a framework for implementing the consensus reached in Geneva.
Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, said: "The big news on Wednesday is that the US/ China trade talks have come to an end. The talks concluded with a pledge to enforce the Geneva protocol on trade between the two nations, albeit with a renewed focus on some sensitive areas.
"China has pledged to speed up shipments of rare earth minerals to the US, while the US side has agreed to curb some export controls."
On the macro front, investors were eyeing the US consumer price index for May at 1330 BST amid expectations for headline and core inflation to edge higher to 2.4% and 2.9% respectively.
On home shores, meanwhile, Rachel Reeves will deliver her spending review later in the day.
Brooks said: "This much-hyped event will see the chancellor allocate £600bn of public funding later today, which is one quarter of the UK economy. No pressure then, Rachel! One wrong move and the Chancellor's hopes for growth could be dashed. Much of the spending review has already been flagged.
"There will be more money for defence and the NHS, pensioners will get their winter fuel allowance back and hopes for a bigger policing budget look like they have been dashed. The chancellor has already pledged to invest in Northern transport links; some may wonder if London and the South will get any pledges from the Chancellor later today.
"While we know where the vast amount of money will be allocated ahead of this speech, what we don't know is where the savings will come from? The spending review has been touted as one of the biggest ever Treasury exercises, going line by line through government departments budgets to look for inefficiencies and elimination of waste. If the Chancellor cannot convince the market that she is serious about getting the UK's finances on a good footing, then the UK Gilt market may give back some of Tuesday's gains, and bond yields could rise, which may weigh on sterling."
In equity markets, Asia-focused Prudential and Standard Chartered were the top gainers on the FTSE 100.
Miners and housebuilders also rose, with Glencore, Anglo American, Rio Tinto, Barratt Redrow, Persimmon and Berkeley all up.
Healthcare property investment and management firm Assura advanced after it agreed to an increased and final 52.1p-a-share offer from KKR and Stonepeak valuing the company at around £1.7bn.
On the downside, building products manufacturer Ibstock tumbled as its guidance for full-year adjusted EBITDA fell short of consensus expectations.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 8,868.87 0.18%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 21,410.86 0.10%
techMARK (TASX) 5,089.88 0.83%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Prudential (PRU) 896.40p 2.35%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,170.50p 1.96%
Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 19,700.00p 1.21%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 76.54p 1.14%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 4,314.00p 1.13%
Weir Group (WEIR) 2,514.00p 1.05%
BT Group (BT.A) 177.95p 0.94%
Glencore (GLEN) 292.70p 0.93%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 4,830.00p 0.92%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 883.20p 0.91%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Melrose Industries (MRO) 472.90p -2.78%
Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (DI) (CCEP) 6,720.00p -1.75%
WPP (WPP) 545.40p -1.41%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 80.98p -1.17%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 369.50p -1.04%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 2,031.00p -0.98%
Diageo (DGE) 1,982.00p -0.75%
Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 3,910.00p -0.71%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 280.80p -0.64%
Tesco (TSCO) 383.30p -0.57%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Vistry Group (VTY) 683.60p 4.53%
W.A.G Payment Solutions (WPS) 80.00p 3.90%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 240.60p 3.62%
Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) 749.50p 2.88%
JPMorgan Indian Investment Trust (JII) 1,108.00p 2.59%
JTC (JTC) 875.00p 2.58%
SDCL Efficiency Income Trust (SEIT) 48.75p 2.42%
Assura (AGR) 49.98p 2.21%
Kainos Group (KNOS) 778.00p 2.17%
Quilter (QLT) 159.50p 1.92%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Ibstock (IBST) 168.40p -12.84%
IP Group (IPO) 44.80p -6.67%
Energean (ENOG) 867.00p -4.04%
Hays (HAS) 71.35p -2.66%
Discoverie Group (DSCV) 664.00p -1.78%
Bloomsbury Publishing (BMY) 500.00p -1.77%
Foresight Group Holdings Limited NPV (FSG) 397.00p -1.61%
Dr. Martens (DOCS) 79.75p -1.60%
TR Property Inv Trust (TRY) 330.50p -1.49%
Trustpilot Group (TRST) 225.00p -1.49%
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