- FTSE 100 up 49 points at 8,466
- A gain today would be 12th in a row, longest winning run since 2017
- AstraZeneca falls after results beat on earnings but revenues ’soft’
- BP (LON:BP) profits and AB Foods guidance worse than expected
4.11pm: FTSE’s best run since 2017
The FTSE 100 is on course for its best session in a few days, adding around 0.6%, and as this will be thw 12th gain in successive days, will be the index’s best run in over nine years.
Top risers include the index’s second-largest company, HSBC, after its first-quarter earnings impressed, and Standard Chartered (LON:STAN), which reports later this week.
The largest company, AstraZeneca, fought back from a 4% fall in early trading to a 0.8% gain, following its midday conference call with analysts.
Howden Joinery is topping the leaderboard, up 4.3%, as its update helped it bounce back from a recent year’s low.
Entain (LON:ENT) also rose on the back of its trading update, rising 2.4%.
The biggest faller was Primark owner AB Foods, down after interim results that included a lowering of guidance.
3.55pm: US consumer confidence plunges
US consumer confidence plunged to 86.0 in April from 92.9 in March, below the consensus forecast of 88.
The headline index is now around 24 points lower than the time of the US election, 33 points below its level at this stage of President Trump’s first term in 2017, and at its lowest point during the Covid shock in 2020
The Conference Board survey showed how US householders have been concerned about Donald Trump’s tariff plans.
Write-in responses that included the word ’tariffs’ reached an "all-time high", the researchers said, in the fifth straight decline for the confidence gauge that is the longest bad stretch since 2008.
CB senior economist Stephanie Guichard said: "The three expectation components - business conditions, employment prospects, and future income - all deteriorated sharply, reflecting pervasive pessimism about the future."
Oliver Allen at Pantheon Macroeconomics said the report echoes the "grim message" from the recent April University of Michigan survey.
"Worries about the impact of President Trump’s new tariffs have dealt a big blow to consumers’ expectations for their own finances and the labor market, while also prompting a renewed surge in inflation expectations."
"The survey’s expectations index has fallen especially sharply recently, and is now consistent with an outright year-over-year decline in consumers’ real spending. The drop in expectations clearly reflects, in part, a view among consumers that higher prices for some goods will hit their real incomes, a view with which we agree."
3.48pm: AB Foods break-up calls revived
Interim results from Associated British Foods PLC (LSE:LON:ABF) were essentially a profit warning, sending the shares down 8.4%, and analysts are saying they may revive speculation about how much longer the conglomerate can keep two "odd bedfellows" of Primark and its British Sugar businesses together.
Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG, said: "ABF’s figures have been marred by poor performance in its sugar unit, which will revive some speculation about how long the conglomerate will keep these two odd bedfellows."
He noted that as Primark grows, calls for a spin-off of the retail division are likely to get louder.
Russ Mould, head of investment at AJ Bell (LON:AJBA), said "ABF’s conglomerate model and the diversification it brings was a boon during the pandemic but it has now tripped the company".
3.21pm: UU downgraded,
How about some broker notes?
For a long time, water stocks have been a haven for cautious investors, offering predictable dividends and a sense of safety.
But the tap of easy returns may be tightening for United Utilities Group PLC (OTC:UUGRY) (LSE:UU.), according to UBS, which today downgraded the shares from ’buy’ to ’neutral’. The shares are up 0.9% though amidst wider demand for utilities and other defensive stocks.
Similarly, UBS thinks National Grid PLC (LSE:LON:NG.) has run out of steam. Analysts also cut the rating on the network to ’neutral’ from ’buy’, arguing that the share price now fully reflects the good news, including generous regulatory terms and solid returns in its US business.
Citi was also looking at another former UK monopoly, with the note disappointing any clients who thought BT Group PLC (LSE:LON:BT.A) had turned a corner. Analysts at the US bank warned that the telecoms giant could be heading into a tougher patch, just as the shares have shown some strength.
Ashtead Group PLC (LSE:LON:AHT) shares are down 2% after a RBC downgrade, which cane with a warning that a slowdown in the US could hit demand harder than expected.
Elsewhere, analysts at Stifel had a think about what a breakthrough on a UK-US trade deal could mean for British mid and small cap shares, and the investment trusts that back them.
They reckon a deal is achievable in the coming weeks, meaning UK exporters could enjoy a valuable leg-up, particularly against rivals from nations still facing higher trade barriers.
2.49m: US open is mixed, tech stocks slip
It’s a mixed open on Wall Street, with the S&P 500 flat, the Dow Jones up 0.4% and the Nasdaq down 0.1%.
In London, the FTSE is gaining some more interest, maybe from US investors, up 0.4% now.
On the Nasdaq, all but three of the top 20 largest companies are in the red, with Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) down 1.5%.
It comes after the Trump administration accused Amazon of a "hostile political act", after the company indicated it was going to lay out the cost of tariffs to its consumers.
This shows, says market analyst Kathleen Brooks at XTB, the White House is changing tack.
"The US administration has mostly saved its ire for other countries that it believes gives the US a raw deal in global trade," she says. "Now it appears that the US administration is targeting US companies who question the logic of its moves.
"This is significant. Financial markets have been roiled by political interference in the global economy in recent weeks. Investors do not digest political risks well, so if the Trump administration is now publicly accusing US companies of hostile acts if they disagree with the President’s US economic policy then this could stop the recent recovery rally in risky assets."
Brooks said the announcement weighed on US stocks ahead of the open, with the consumer discretionary sector taking the biggest knock, with the Vix index ticking higher on the back of these comments.
President Trump is scheduled to speak later on Tuesday and, said Brooks, "if he doubles down on criticism of Amazon, it will be worth watching the market reaction".
2pm: US trade deficit widens
The US trade deficit for March widened to $162 billion last month, up from $147.8 billion in February, much larger than expectations.
The 12-month total is now $1.4 trillion, a record high.
The data does not include the impact of Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, but it looks perfect material for the US President.
Ahead of the release he said on social media that "The USA lost Billions of Dollars A DAY in International Trade under Sleepy Joe Biden. I have now stemmed that tide, and will be making a fortune, very soon."
The US’s goods deficit with China is roughly the same as China’s goods surplus with the US, analysts noted, but should is expected to narrow in the coming months.
12.33pm: Mixed markets
Stock markets in Europe are mixed and US stock futures are too, with direction generally being led by numerous earnings being released around the world today.
The FTSE is up 0.2% and heading for its 12th positive session in a row, which according to Bloomberg is the longest winning run since early 2017.
Germany’s DAX are up 0.2% and 0.5%, while France’s CAC and Spain’s IBEX are down 0.3% and 0.9%.
Disappointment with Spanish bank BBVA (BME:BBVA), plus falls for Inditex (BME:ITX) and IAG (LON:ICAG), are dragging on the IBEX. France’s biggest faller is Schneider Electric (EPA:SCHN) as its earnings disappointed.
Across the Atlantic, Dow Jones futures are up 0.3%, while those for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 are either side of flat.
In company news, UPS shares have were up 2% in premarket trading as its earnings beat Wall Street expectations and it announced plans to cut 20,000 jobs this year due to anticipated lower volumes from "our largest customer", by which it means Amazon.
General Motors (NYSE:GM) is down 2% after the carmaker beat profit and revenue estimates and said that it is updating its full-year guidance.
“The company’s initial full year 2025 financial guidance does not contemplate the potential impact of tariffs,” the company said.
11.40am: Details on M&S digital ransom attack
The cyber attack at Marks and Spencer Group PLC (LSE:LON:MKS) is thought to be linked to the hacking group Scattered Spider, which has caused disruption to its digital business and some stores.
According to technology site BleepingComputer, the attack involved ransomware that may demand up to £10 million to unlock the retailer’s systems.
Hackers are believed to have infiltrated the company’s IT network in February, stealing critical data, including password files.
M&S has enlisted cybersecurity firms CrowdStrike (NASDAQ:CRWD), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Fenix24 to help investigate, but has not provided a timeline for resolving the issue.
11.02am: FTSE crawling higher
The FTSE 100 has started to creep higher, joining its European peers in the green.
London’s index, up 0.2%, is still lagging its mid-cap singling and some of its Continental cousins, with the FTSE 250, the DAX and FTSE MIB all rising 0.7%.
France’s CAC 40 is flat and Spain’s IBEX is down 0.5%.
The Euro Stoxx 600 is up 0.3%, with top risers being Finlad’s sustainable aviation fuel group Neste (up 11%), Swedish air treatment firm Munters (up 11%), and UK pair Travis Perkins (LON:TPK) and Howden Joiners (up 8% and 7%).
The UK’s blue-chip index is being helped off its low as AstraZeneca’s losses are being cut, it’s now down less than 3% compared to over 4% earlier, and HSBC and other banks are doing some heavy lifting, along with some miners.
Market analyst Chris Beauchamp at IG says the poorly received numbers from AZ and BP dealt the Footsie an early blow, "though the index’s impressive rebound from the April low is intact".
He adds: "Markets remain on edge ahead of tech earnings this week, along with concerns that Howard Lutnick’s appearance on television this afternoon may lead to a resumption of tariff volatility.
"Nerves remain frayed after the gut-wrenching volatility of early April, though earnings season so far, and the lack of any tariff headlines, has helped a calmer atmosphere to prevail for now."
11.05am: Copper warning
The FT is reporting that China’s copper stockpiles could run out in just a few months, citing senior figures at commodities trading house Mercuria.
Fears about the effects of the new US tariffs have seen a spike in demand in the US ahead of the Trump trade levies coming into force.
Diverting copper imports to the US has led to Chinese stocks of copper declining sharply in recent weeks.
“At the current pace of draws, those Chinese inventories could deplete [to zero] by the middle of June”, a metals expert at the Swiss commodities group told the newspaper.
10.42am: Green plastic contract for Wood
John Wood Group PLC (LSE:LON:WG.) has won what it says is a multi-million dollar contract to help design and build a "revolutionary plant which will produce fossil-free plastics using green methanol".
The front-end engineering design contract is with Belgium’s Vioneo, with the plant in Antwerp to be renewably powered to make it the first facility in the world capable of making ’green plastic’ at an industrial scale.
"These plastics will be fully traceable, segregated and carbon negative, enabling customers to reduce Scope 3 emissions, and are a high-quality drop-in replacement, with no performance compromises, and require no changes to existing production lines or processes."
In addition, the production of these plastics does not affect the feedstock supply for food production, ensuring the project is sustainable.
Vioneo is owned by Denmark’s AP Moller Group.
10.23am: Savills (LON:SVS) succession
Another CEO change, this time at Savills PLC (LSE:SVS), which says Mark Ridley will step down after Christmas, with finance chief Simon Shaw given the opportunity to take the reins.
Ridley has spent 29 years at Savills and seven years in the top job.
Shaw, who has been group chief financial officer since 2009, will assume the role of group chief executive on 1 January 2026.
10.07am: Big day, mostly disappointing day so far
On what is a big day for earnings reports for the UK benchmark, including three of the FTSE’s top 12 largest companies, the index is being weighed down by a 3% fall for AstraZeneca, a 4% drop for BP, with a 1.5% decline for Shell (LON:SHEL).
Both oil giants are being hit by a fall in crude oil prices too, with Brent down 1.5% to under $65 a barrel this morning.
On the plus side for the London index, HSBC is up 2%, having kicked things off and exceeded profit estimates and announced a chunky $3 billion share buyback.
Also in the banking sector, Deutsche Bank (ETR:DBKGn) has added to the good news, delivering what Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, calls a "stunning Q1 performance", boosted by fixed income trading.
She has a deeper dive into BP’s numbers, seeing "its woes pile up", with gross profit margin shrinking, net income lower and the share buyback slashed to a "mere" $750 million, at the low end of guidance.
"There were also fundamental issues with the financial health of the company, which has deteriorated sharply in the past year," says Brooks, pointing to net debt surging to just under $27 billion.
"This is troubling since the oil price remains weak, which makes it harder for the company to pay off this debt. It also suggests a failure of strategy, the company had said that it wanted to bring down net debt in recent quarters, instead it is back at the highest level since 2022.
"The company has said that it wants to protect it’s A grade credit rating, however, will the agencies be happy with the plan to reduce net debt to $14-18 billion by 2027, when the oil price remains weak?"
She says the update is "unlikely to be enough" for activist Elliott.
9.36am: THG (LON:THG) shares down, despite nutrition’s return to growth
Shares in THG PLC (LSE:THG) are down 3.75% on the back of its 2024 results, which had a first-quarter update tagged alongside them.
The owner of MyProtein had already confirmed headline numbers not long ago, so there a few surprises from the full-year figures.
Within the mix, analyst John Stevenson at house broker Peel Hunt (LON:PEEL) notes that margins for the Beauty business came out ahead of expectations, with the corollary of this being a tougher second half for the Nutrition arm, dragged down by the rebrand, whey prices and Japanese yen, all of which had been previously flagged.
In the first quarter of 2025, continuing revenue was down 6.1% on a constant currency basis at £371.4 million, with like-for-like revenues sliding 3%.
A return to growth (just about) in THG Nutrition, which inched up 0.1%, supports full year guidance, the company says.
Stevenson says he had expected Nutrition to clock up mid single-digit declines in the quarter, following 13% declines in the second half, but actually there were gains in February and March.
9am: Howdens ’kitchen a bid’
Howden Joinery Group (LSE:HWDN (LON:HWDN)) is top of the FTSE 100 leaderboard, up 6.6% following an AGM trading statement for the first 16 weeks of the year, up to mid-April, indicating that it is "on track with our outlook for 2025".
Revenue was up 3%, including 2.6% for the UK and 17% for international.
On a like-for-like basis, UK revenue grew 1.4%, while international revenue was up 15%.
Analyst Clyde Lewis (JO:LEWJ) at Peel Hunt said he sees no changes to market forecasts following this update.
However, the shares had been down over 12% since the start of the year, hitting a 17-month low earlier this month.
In a tangential news, builders merchant Travis Perkins (LSE:TPK) shares are up 4% as it reported resilient first-quarter trading despite a tough market backdrop.
Group revenue fell 2.1% on a like-for-like basis for the three months to 31 March, as the Merchanting division saw volumes slip and pricing stabilise.
8.43am: AB Foods lowers sugar outlook
Primark owner Associated British Foods PLC’s (LSE:ABF) interim results this morning showed a 10% fall in profits, but it’s a further lowering of sugar guidance that seems to be hitting the shares.
The Silver Spoon and Billington’s firm is guiding to a lower than expected outlook on sugar due to tariff impacts and weaker bioethanol.
Group sales for the six months to 1 March fell by 2% to £9.5 billion, with Primark growing 1% to £4.5 billion. Group adjusted profit before tax down 10% to £818 million.
CEO George Weston said: "These results reflect a robust performance in four of our five divisions. I am frustrated with the results in our Sugar business, but we are clear on what needs to be done by way of operational and regulatory solutions to improve financial performance."
Analyst Clive Black at Shore Capital said the sugar outlook has led him to put his ’buy’ stance under review.
"The stars have not quite been aligned for ABF in the past year and whilst we like a lot about this firm, we have to put the stock stance ’Under Review’, with today’s unwelcome Sugar/Bioethanol guidance," he says.
8.28am: Astra seems to have ’repaired relationship with China’
Some comments on AZN from Ben Kumar, head of UK equity strategy at 7IM, who sees the results as "very strong".
While earnings beat estimates by 10%, he notes that Astra "has a habit of delivering satisfying earnings beats though, so this is sort of ’par’ rather than anything too exciting".
"But tie it into the promising news about one of their developing breast cancer treatments earlier this month, and the lacklustre share price performance over the past 12 months (down 12%) and there might well be something for investors to get interested in."
He adds that Astra seems to have "repaired its relationship with China, which might well be important as a buffer against US tariffs".
8.21am: AZ down on softer revenue
AstraZeneca PLC (LSE:LON:AZN) shares seem to be down on revenues missing forecasts, with investors looking past stronger-than-expected earnings and a standout performance from its oncology portfolio.
The Anglo-Swedish drugmaker reiterated its guidance for the full year, forecasting high single-digit percentage growth in total revenue and a low double-digit percentage rise in core earnings per share at constant exchange rates.
Analyst Sean Conroy at Shore Capital says China sales grew but were "still soft" at 5%, "albeit we understand this was due to a incidence of flu impacting sales of its respiratory medicines and not reflecting an impact from ongoing anti-corruption investigations".
He says Trump’s tariffs and the resurfacing political overhang around US drug prices is "likely to be the dominate feature" of today’s post-results call at midday.
On an initial glance, he says "no significant detail on potential impacts has been disclosed in the print, we hope more disclosure on the call around which the areas might be impacted".
8.14am: FTSE in limbo as results dictate direction
The FTSE 100 was unable to settle on a direction in initial trades, starting around 14 points before dropping a couple of points into the red.
Primark owner Associated British Foods PLC (LSE:ABF) is down 8%, AstraZeneca PLC (LSE:AZN) has dropped 4% and BP PLC (LSE:NYSE:BP.) is down 3.6% after their updates disappointed.
Howden Joinery Group (LSE:HWDN) and Entain PLC (LSE:ENT) are up 6.4% and 3% as theirs impressed.
7.48am: Stinker from BP
BP PLC (LSE:BP.) has delivered a stinker, with Q1 underlying profits well below forecasts, with higher debt and a smaller share buyback than expected to further disappoint.
The oil and gas giant’s underlying replacement cost (RC) profit for the first three months of 2025 was $1.4 billion, down from $2.7 billion a year ago but up from $1.2 billion from the previous quarter despite lower oil prices as the period saw a lower impact from turnaround activity.
Underlying earnings of 8.75 cents a share, up from 7.36c in Q4 last year, were a long way from the 10.1c average analyst estimate.
BP is also reported to have announced separately that head of strategy, Giulia Chierchia, (who was one of the targets for activist investor Elliott Investment Management) will leave in June.
BP also announced today that its head of strategy Giulia Chierchia (ex McKinsey, who joined in 2020, and very much disliked by top investors) will leave in June. She won’t be replaced, and BP seems to be disbanding the "strategy, suitability and ventures" teams she ran.— Javier Blas (@JavierBlas) April 29, 2025
7.30am: HSBC sees deterioration in outlook
In its Q1 results, HSBC Holdings PLC (LSE:LON:HSBA) delivered a beat to the analyst consensus and announced a share buyback of up to $3 billion, while management commentary has a little about the expected effects on its key China market from US tariffs.
The Asia-focused lender recorded expected credit losses of $0.9 billion for the period, $0.2 billion higher than a year ago but $0.5 billion lower than in the fourth quarter.
These allowances reflected "heightened uncertainty and a deterioration in the forward economic outlook due to geopolitical tensions and higher trade tariffs".
They comprised a $0.3 billion impact for the Hong Kong business segment; and three further $0.2 billion in respect of the UK business, the corporate and institutional banking arm, and wealth unit.
In the outlook section, HSBC said the heightened uncertainty is created by protectionist trade policies, "creating volatility in both economic forecasts and financial markets and adversely impacting consumer and business sentiment", but it still is targeting a mid-teens return on average tangible equity (RoTE) in each of this and the next two years, and did not change guidance for banking income, though acknowledged the outlook for interest rates "has become more volatile and uncertain".
7.14am: FTSE 100 preps for another small gain, Astra and HSBC deliver beats
Another day and another small FTSE 100 gain is predicted ahead of the open on Tuesday, though this time it follows a mixed session across the pond overnight.
On the futures market, London’s blue-chip benchmark has been called 19 points higher, adding to the string of single-figure gains in the past few days, with another two added yesterday that left the index at 8,417.34.
Last night saw Wall Street end with the S&P 500 just above flat, the Dow Jones up 0.3% and the Nasdaq 0.1% to the worse, as Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) was hit by stories of China competition and some of the other tech giants slipped slightly.
Asian markets are mostly higher with a slight split this morning, with the Hang Seng flat and Shanghai Composite modestly in the red.
HSBC Holdings PLC (LSE:HSBA) has published its results earlier in Hong Kong, delivering a beat to the analyst consensus on pretax profits and announcing a share buyback of up to $3 billion.
And AstraZeneca PLC (LSE:AZN) has just put its out, with a quick look indicating core EPS of $2.49 was higher than the $2.26 expected. Guidance has been maintained.
5am: What to watch on Tuesday
The FTSE 100’s two largest companies both report quarterly results on Tuesday, with their takes on two very different sectors that should set the tone for the City in the coming week and perhaps months ahead.
AstraZeneca PLC’s (LSE:AZN) shares are down by over 20% from their all-time highs late last summer, with the fall steepening since Donald Trump’s announcement of Robert F Kennedy Jnr as his Health Secretary nomination in the autumn and another sharp decline from the ’liberation day’ tariffs announcement at the start of April.
With the US President having also announced plans for an extra pharmaceutical tariff, the update comes at a delicate time for the global sector, with some European peers recently looking to engage in direct discussions with White House officials to try and avert a crisis for the industry.
Holding the baton for the UK banking sector ahead of results from the rest of the sector through this week, first-quarter results from HSBC Holdings PLC (LSE:HSBA) also come with investor attention sharply focused on its outlook for Asia, and China in particular – a key target of the new US trade policy.
BP PLC (LSE:BP.) is just outside the Footsie top 10 currently, following a fall in oil prices in the past month and a February strategic update that was not well received. A production update earlier in the month also showed natural gas production down but oil output up in the first quarter, leading one investment bank downgraded its stance on the stock, saying the increased financial uncertainty may hinder the company’s efforts to rebuild the confidence of investors, including activist Elliott Advisors.
And another update worth flagging, as it’s the first results as a FTSE 100 company, are from Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Europacific Partners PLC (LSE:CCEP, NASDAQ:CCEP), though there may be a taint to numbers after the bottler was forced to recall a host of soft drinks brands across Europe due to safety fears earlier this year.
Macroeconomic data includes UK shop prices from the BRC, as well as EU and US consumer confidence.
Announcements due on 29 April:
Trading updates: Alfa Financial Software (ETR:SOWGn) Holdings, AstraZeneca, BP, Beazley (LON:BEZG), Breedon Group, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, Elementis (LON:ELM), Entain, Howden Joinery, HSBC, NCC Group (LON:NCCG), Travis Perkins
Interims: Associated British Foods, Focusrite (LON:TUNE)
Finals: Animalcare Group, Mobico Group, Mpac Group, Pod Point Group (WA:PGMP), Touchstar, Warpaint London
Overseas earnings: Coca-Cola, General Motors, Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC), PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL), Pfizer (NYSE:PFE), Spotify, Visa (NYSE:V), Snap, Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX), Super Micro Computer
AGM: Breedon Group, Elementis, Harmony (JO:HARJ) Energy Income Trust, Nexteq, Ocado Group (LON:OCDO), Robert Walters, Sthree
Economic announcements: BRC Shop Price (UK), Consumer Confidence (EU), Balance of Trade (US), Retail Inventories (US), JOLTs Job Openings (US), CB Consumer Confidence (US)