UK stocks spooked by new Trump threat of fresh tariffs on China

The FTSE 100 fell sharply into the close on Friday as US President Donald Trump threatened China with a massive increase in tariffs amid a critical minerals dispute.

The FTSE 100 index closed down 81.93 points, 0.9%, at 9,427.47. It had earlier traded as high as 9,519.96.

The FTSE 250 ended 250.99 points lower, 1.1%, at 21,801.84, and the AIM All-Share fell 7.37 points, 0.9%, to 786.33.

For the week, the FTSE 100 was down 0.7%, the FTSE 250 fell 1.8% and the AIM All-Share was down 1.3%.

In European equities on Friday, the CAC 40 in Paris closed down 1.5%, as did the DAX 40 in Frankfurt.

Stocks in New York were down sharply at the time of the London close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.2%, the S&P 500 was 1.6% lower while the Nasdaq Composite declined 2.2%.

Stocks in London had struggled for impetus on Friday before Mr Trump’s latest missive.

Writing on Truth Social, the US president said China is becoming “very hostile” and wants to impose export controls relating to “each and every” element of production relating to rare earths.

Mr Trump called the move “surprising” and said there is “no way” that China should be allowed to hold the world “captive”.

The president said, depending on China’s response, he will be forced to “financially counter the move”.

“One of the policies that we are calculating at this moment is a massive increase of tariffs on Chinese products” coming into the US, he said.

“There are many other countermeasures that are, likewise, under serious consideration,” he added.

Mr Trump said he saw “no reason” to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The comments sparked further falls in the oil price, and bonds, and put pressure on the dollar.

The pound was quoted higher at 1.3338 US dollars at the time of the London equity market close on Friday, compared to 1.3305 dollars on Thursday.

The euro stood at 1.1616 dollars compared to 1.1563 dollars. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at 151.87 yen, lower compared to 153.11 yen.

The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 4.07%, narrowed from 4.15% on Thursday. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury stood at 4.66%, down from 4.73%.

Brent oil traded at 63.19 US dollars a barrel on Friday, down sharply from 65.95 dollars late on Thursday.

Shell fell 2.9% while BP shed 2.8%.

But gold, which had been trading back below 4,000 dollars perked up, trading at 4,014.76 dollars an ounce on Friday, still down against 4,020.10 dollars on Thursday.

Mr Trump’s comments added to the uncertainty caused by the ongoing federal government shutdown in the US.

Henry Allen, at Deustche Bank, said the fear is that the longer it lasts, the worse the economic impact will be, noting the Polymarket odds of the shutdown ending before October 15 are down to just 8%.

The shutdown is likely to see a delay to US inflation, retail sales and industrial production figures next week.

On Friday, figures showed showed US consumer confidence was largely unmoved in October, according to preliminary data from the University of Michigan, showing little initial impact from the federal government shutdown.

The index of consumer sentiment ebbed fractionally to 55 points in October, from 55.1 in September. On-year, it tumbled from 70.5.

“Overall, consumers perceive very few changes in the outlook for the economy from last month,” the university said.

“Pocketbook issues like high prices and weakening job prospects remain at the forefront of consumers’ minds. At this time, consumers do not expect meaningful improvement in these factors.

“Meanwhile, interviews reveal little evidence that the ongoing federal government shutdown has moved consumers’ views of the economy thus far.”

Oliver Allen, senior US economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said the lack of a “meaningful” fall in the survey’s headline index in October is “encouraging”, given that about half of the report’s responses will have been taken since the government shutdown began.

On London’s FTSE 100, Compass Group rose 0.9% as Bank of America resumed coverage with a “buy” rating.

The broker expects the contract foodservice company to benefit from industry growth tailwinds, and outsized market share gains from first-time outsourcing and competition.

The Bank of America pointed out Compass is gaining market share, not just from self-operated and regional players, but likely also from larger peers.

Sage Group firmed 1.4% as Citi opened a “positive catalyst watch” and reiterated a “buy” rating ahead of full-year results in November.

The broker noted the accountancy software provider’s share price has been knocked by concerns of AI disruption.

But Citi is confident that Sage has the “right levers” to sustain the growth, and potential to accelerate in a better macro set-up.

“AI would remain (a) key topic of debate, at the same time Sage efforts on bringing and commercialising AI use cases should be more visible in 2026,” Citi said.

On the FTSE 250, building materials outfit Ibstock fell 4.0% as it reported “weaker than expected demand” in the UK in recent months.

Ibstock says a more uncertain near-term backdrop for its core construction markets has caused demand to be weaker than expected, hurting Clay and Concrete revenue during the third quarter.

Both sales volumes and adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation are expected to be flat in the second half of 2025, showing no improvement from the first half.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were: Admiral, up 58p at 3,388p; Imperial Brands, up 49p at 3,143p; Unilever, up 64p at 4,485p; Sage Group, up 15.5 pence at 1,127.5p; and St James’s Place, up 13.5p at 1,325p.

The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were: Entain, down 33.2p at 805p; Mondi, down 30.2p at 824.1p; Glencore, down 11.3p at 345.85p; Rightmove, down 21.8p at 675.8p; and Shell, down 80.5p at 2,696p.

No major events are scheduled for Monday’s global economic diary with financial markets closed in Canada and bond markets shut in the US. Later in the week, GDP and jobs market figures will be released in the UK and inflation data in China.

Next week’s UK corporate calendar has full-year results from housebuilder Bellway, and half-year results from premier Inn owner Whitbread.

Contributed by Alliance News