Proactive Investors -
- FTSE 100 down 37 points
- Halfords warns of Budget hit
- Trump doubles down on Tariff plan
8.50am: Stocks drop as Trump doubles down on tariff plan
Renewed commitments to introduce sweeping tariffs by president-elect Donald Trump weighed on stocks into Tuesday morning.
Trump on Monday evening said on his Truth Social platform that he would “sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States, and its ridiculous open borders” upon taking office in January.
Commodities faced a blow on the post, sending the likes of miners down early on, while the pound also dropped 0.19% against the dollar to US$1.2544.
“It seems that Trump is seeking to assert his authority following his nomination of [Scott] Bessent as Treasury Secretary, a decision that markets anticipated would moderate Trump's policies,” Tickmill Group partner Patrick Munnelly commented.
“Trump expressed his affection for the term ‘tariff’ only last month; therefore, his recent remarks should not have been unexpected, although their timing was.”
The comments also weighed on Asian markets, including those in China for which tariffs are also expected to be introduced.
Back in London, the FTSE 100 shed 37 points to sit at 8,254.
8.40am: AO World bumps up guidance
AO World PLC (LSE:LON:AO.) has lifted its profit guidance for the year after an improved first half performance, despite the impact of unseasonably wet weather.
Revenue increased 6% to £512 million during the six months to September, the electricals retailer reported on Tuesday, pushing operating profit up 11% to £16 million.
On an adjusted basis, operating profit surged 30% to £17 million, prompting AO World to hike full-year guidance for the figure to between £39 million and £44 million, against £36 million to £41 million previously.
“We've had a Morecambe and Wise (LON:WISEa) summer sales period; all the right volumes just not in the right categories,” chief executive John Roberts noted.
“The wet summer weather meant we sold fewer fridges and air conditioning units and more tumble driers than we had planned”... Read more
8.12am: FTSE 100 opens on the back foot
London’s blue chips dropped as trading got underway on Tuesday, sending the FTSE 100 down 25 points to 8,266.
Compass led fallers early on, despite hiking its dividend on improved profit over the year.
Panmure Liberum noted the results, which showed operating profit up 16.4% at almost US$3 billion, were “in line” with expectations, alongside guidance for high single-digit underlying operating profit growth in 2025.
Diageo PLC (LSE:LON:DGE) was also among early fallers, alongside Anglo American PLC (LSE:LON:AAL), Antofagasta PLC (LSE:LON:ANTO) and NatWest Group PLC (LSE:LON:NWG).
8.03am: Compass lifts dividend as profit climbs
Compass Group PLC (LSE:CPG) has hiked its dividend after a surge in profit over the course of the year.
Revenue jumped 10.6% to US$42.2 billion (£33.6 billion), aiding a 16.4% increase in operating profit to just under US$3.0 billion, the food services firm said on Tuesday.
A final dividend of 39.1 cents was declared on the back of the results, taking the total for the year to 59.8 cents and up 13.7% on 2023.
Revenue in North America ticked up 10.9% to US$28.6 and by 15.0% across Europe to US$9.9 billion, but fell elsewhere by 3.7% to US$3.7 billion... Read more
7.42am: Halfords warns of Budget hit as profit drops
Halfords Group PLC (LSE:LON:HFD) has warned of a £23 million surge in costs following last month’s Budget and unveiled a drop in profit for the first half.
Revenue dipped by 1.0% to £864.8 million during the six months to September, or by 0.1% on a like-for-like basis, while reported pre-tax profit fell 23.3% to £17.8 million.
Higher employer national insurance and minimum wages were set to fuel costs next year, it said, meaning inflation inflation “may” be passed through on the company’s managed services.
“The cost implications from the recent UK Budget are particularly acute for a specialist retailer that provides expert advice and assistance to customers,” chief executive Graham Stapleton commented.
“While we will work hard to mitigate these costs, we urge the government to consider alternative ways of supporting businesses like ours.” as a result, Halfords warned.
Uncertainty around the Budget had also caused volatile trading in recent months and left doubt over the latter half of the year, the company said... Read more
7.12am: FTSE 100 set to backtrack
Futures had the FTSE 100 falling back 44 points to 8,272 on Tuesday morning in a reverse of Monday’s 29-point gain.
JD Sports Fashion PLC (LSE:LON:JD.) had led the index higher on Monday, followed by the likes of Entain PLC (LSE:LON:ENT) and airlines as oil prices receded.
Oil remained downtrodden into Tuesday, with benchmark Brent crude trading at US$73.21 a barrel and down from as high as US$74.99 the day before.
Overnight, Asian markets dipped into the red, led by a 0.9% drop for Japan’s Nikkei.
5.00am: Compass amon a string of firms to report
Tuesday brings a string of updates from London-listed companies, before HP and Crowdstrike (NASDAQ:CRWD)'s results from across the Atlantic.
Compass should be in line to exceed expectations, analysts believe... Read more
Announcements due:
Trading updates: Intertek Group PLC (LSE:LON:ITRK), Safestore Holdings (LSE:SAFE) PLC, Seraphim Space Investment Trust, Topps Tiles PLC (LSE:LON:TPT)
Interims: Accsys Technologies (AIM:AXS) PLC, AO World PLC (LSE:AO.), Augmentum Fintech PLC (LSE:AUGM), Brickability Group PLC (AIM:BRCK), Caledonia Investments (LSE:LON:CLDN), Cranswick PLC (LSE:LON:CWK), FD Technologies, Halfords PLC, Helical (LSE:HLCL (LON:HLCL)) PLC, IG Design Group PLC (LON:IGRI) (LSE:IGR), Intercede Group (AIM:IGP) PLC, Kinovo PLC (AIM:KINO, OTC:BILBF), LondonMetric (LON:LMPL) Property PLC (LSE:LMP), Mercia Asset Management (LON:MERCM) PLC (AIM:MERC), Schroder Real Estate Investment Trust (LSE:SREI) Ltd, Sosandar (AIM:SOS) PLC, Supreme PLC (AIM:SUP), Telecom Plus PLC (LSE:LON:TEP), Vp PLC
Finals: Compass Group PLC (LSE:CPG), Essensys, Renew Holdings (AIM:RNWH)
US earnings: CrowdStrike Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:CRWD), HP Inc (NYSE:NYSE:HPQ)
AGMs: Aura Energy (LON:AURA) Limited, CleanTech Lithium PLC (AIM:LON:CTL, OTCQX:CTLHF), Seraphim Space Investment Trust PLC (LSE:SSIT), Tlou Energy Ltd (AIM:TLOU, ASX:TOU, BSE:TLOU), Tungsten West PLC (LON:TUNT) (AIM:TUN, OTC:TNGWF)
Economic announcements: CBI Distributive Trades (UK), Consumer Confidence (US), New Homes Sales (US), Fed Minutes (US)