London midday: Stocks stay down ahead of tariff deadline; housebuilders hit
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Friday 04 Jul 2025
(Sharecast News) - London stocks were still weaker by midday on Friday as Donald Trump's 9 July tariff deadline loomed, with trade expected to remain quiet as US markets will be closed for Independence Day.
The FTSE 100 was down 0.4% at 8,792.21.
Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell, said: "Surprise at US jobs market resilience and Congress passing Trump's tax-cut bill helped to drive Wall Street higher last night, yet the party did not extend to Europe at the end of the trading week.
"European indices were all in the red as a lack of corporate news shifted investors' focus to the imminent end of Trump's 90-day pause on higher trade tariffs. Unsurprisingly, defensive stocks were top of investors' shopping lists as they sought industries that should tick over without any drama regardless of what's happening in the world such as telecoms, groceries, utilities and tobacco producers.
"Vodafone, Sainsbury's and BT were among the top risers on the FTSE 100, but their strength was not enough to offset weakness from the mining sector.
"Trump is getting his box of stamps ready to send letters to countries detailing tariff rates on imports to the US. Like an A Level student nervously opening their exam results, governments in parts of the world will be having butterflies in their stomach once their letter arrives. Trade officials have been working hard to get rates as low as possible, but indications of 20% to 30% tariffs on the first batch of letters would suggest they are still high enough to cause some pain."
On home shores, a survey out earlier showed that construction output remained in contractionary territory in June, albeit to a lesser extent.
S&P Global's construction purchasing managers' index ticked up to 48.8 from 47.9 in May. A reading above 50 signals expansion, while a reading below indicates contraction.
The decline reflected accelerated rates of contraction in the commercial and civil engineering segments. The survey showed that commercial work fell at the fastest pace since May 2020, with the index standing at 45.1 in June. Respondents pointed to subdued UK economic conditions and cutbacks to investment spending among clients.
Meanwhile, output in civil engineering - the index was 44.2 - fell for the sixth month running and was the weakest-performing area of construction activity.
House building was the only area of construction work to seen an expansion in June, with an index of 50.7. S&P said higher levels of residential activity were recorded for the first time since September 2024, although the rate of growth was only marginal.
Tim Moore, economics director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said: "June data highlighted a sustained downturn in UK construction output, albeit at the slowest pace in six months.
"Shrinking workloads in the commercial and civil engineering segments weighed on total industry activity. Commercial activity fell at the sharpest rate in just over five years.
"On a brighter note, house building was the best performing area of the construction sector. Higher levels of residential work were recorded for the first time since September 2024 amid some reports of more stable demand conditions."
In equity markets, housebuilders were in the red after MJ Gleeson delivered a cautious outlook. The low-cost, affordable housebuilder said the housing market "lacks confidence and remains subdued".
"The board does not see a short-term catalyst for any substantial improvement," it said.
Barratt, Persimmon, Berkeley, Taylor Wimpey and Vistry all lost ground.
Moonpig slumped after Deutsche Bank downgraded the stock to 'hold' from 'buy' and cut the price target to 235p from 290p.
On the upside, Drax got a boost as JPMorgan resumed coverage of the shares with an 'overweight' rating and 1,000p price target after a period of restriction.
The bank, which placed the shares on "positive catalyst watch", said its analysis continues to support its view that the company is "well positioned to create value as intermittency increases in the UK power grid".
Drug maker AstraZeneca ticked higher after saying that its Imfinzi asset has been approved in the EU as the first and only perioperative immunotherapy for muscle-invasive bladder cancer.
Softcat edged up after Berenberg upgraded the shares to 'buy' from 'hold' on the basis of its continued strong operational performance, consistent ability to beat market expectations and the circa 15% sell-off in its shares over the past two weeks.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 8,792.21 -0.35%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 21,545.62 -0.72%
techMARK (TASX) 5,088.59 -0.19%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Vodafone Group (VOD) 81.62p 3.00%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 4,004.00p 1.01%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,471.00p 0.75%
BT Group (BT.A) 196.75p 0.69%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 2,085.00p 0.63%
Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (DI) (CCEP) 7,020.00p 0.43%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 282.40p 0.43%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 956.80p 0.25%
National Grid (NG.) 1,044.00p 0.24%
Bunzl (BNZL) 2,342.00p 0.17%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Barratt Redrow (BTRW) 423.40p -2.40%
Smurfit Westrock (DI) (SWR) 3,423.00p -2.12%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,203.00p -2.00%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,203.00p -1.92%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,604.00p -1.91%
Schroders (SDR) 364.00p -1.89%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICG) 1,925.00p -1.79%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,204.00p -1.78%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,900.50p -1.73%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 112.95p -1.70%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Drax Group (DRX) 693.50p 1.46%
Auction Technology Group (ATG) 483.50p 1.15%
Alpha Group International (ALPH) 3,212.50p 0.86%
Pacific Horizon Inv Trust (PHI) 617.00p 0.65%
Greggs (GRG) 1,709.00p 0.53%
PayPoint (PAY) 811.00p 0.50%
Telecom Plus (TEP) 2,000.00p 0.40%
JPMorgan Indian Investment Trust (JII) 1,084.00p 0.37%
Twentyfour Income Fund Limited Ord Red (TFIF) 113.20p 0.35%
Ruffer Investment Company Ltd Red PTG Pref Shares (RICA) 284.00p 0.35%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Moonpig Group (MOON) 227.50p -5.99%
Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 373.20p -3.81%
Vistry Group (VTY) 615.20p -3.39%
Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 316.00p -2.47%
Dr. Martens (DOCS) 75.85p -2.44%
Just Group (JUST) 130.20p -2.40%
Man Group (EMG) 170.80p -2.23%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 82.00p -2.21%
Kier Group (KIE) 196.60p -2.19%
Currys (CURY) 124.20p -2.13%
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