London pre-open: Stocks to rise as US and EU agree trade deal
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Monday 28 Jul 2025
(Sharecast News) - London stocks were set to rise at the open on Monday after the US and the EU struck a trade deal.
The FTSE 100 was called to open 55 points higher.
Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management, said: "Trump just pulled the pin on his biggest trade grenade yet - but instead of detonation, we got a controlled blast. The US-EU pact sets a 15% baseline tariff across the board, swerving away from the threatened 30% cliff and locking in $750 billion in energy buys and $600 billion in investment from Europe. That's not de-escalation - it's tariff normalisation. The smoke cleared, but the heat's still on.
"This wasn't some left-field shocker - it was telegraphed well in advance. The Street had been calling Trump's bluff all month, betting he'd go for optics over escalation. And they were right. Markets had sliced this outcome into the price with surgical precision. This deal gave traders exactly what they had craved: a clean number and a reason to exhale. The result? Champagne across risk assets - not from euphoria, but from relief."
In UK corporate news, food producer Cranswick held annual guidance as like-for-like revenue rose 7.9% on the back of new business wins and increasing consumer demand for natural protein.
Cranswick still expects adjusted profit before tax in a range between £206.5m and £213.6m, according to a company-compiled consensus of broker forecasts.
IT support and services firm Computacenter said it continues to expect FY25 adjusted operating profits to be ahead of FY26 after delivering "strong" revenue growth in the first half.
Computacenter said its increased revenues were largely driven by growth in its high-volume technology sourcing business.
Elsewhere, GSK said it has entered into a partnership with Chinese pharmaceutical outfit Hengrui Pharma to jointly develop up to 12 medicines, providing new growth opportunities for the British company beyond 2031.
The agreement will see GSK pay $500m in upfront fees and centre around treatments in respiratory, immunology and inflammation (RI&I) and oncology.
"This deal reflects our strategic investment in programmes that address validated targets, increasing the likelihood of success, and with the option to advance those assets with the greatest potential for patient impact," said GSK's chief scientific officer Tony Wood.
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