FTSE 100 rises by 2.71% as investor sentiment improves following US trade negotiations comments.
Global financial markets experienced a recovery during Tuesday's trading sessions, buoyed by optimism surrounding potential trade deals between the United States and its trading partners.
Comments from U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggesting the likelihood of striking 'some good deals' contributed to alleviating recent market anxieties.
Despite this rebound, major indices remain significantly lower following a steep decline triggered last Wednesday by President
Donald Trump's announcement of plans to impose new tariffs on various countries.
In the aftermath of these proposals, the FTSE 100—London's primary stock index—suffered substantial losses but reported a noteworthy increase of 2.71%, closing at 7,910.53, a rise of 208.45 points.
Market movements across Europe also reflected positive momentum, influenced by strong overnight trading in China.
The CAC 40 index in France rose by 2.5%, and Germany's DAX index saw an uptick of 2.36%.
In the United States, trading on Wall Street opened on a positive note with both the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbing by more than 3%.
This shift suggests that traders are becoming more optimistic about the potential outcomes of the ongoing tariff negotiations.
Senior technical analyst Axel Rudolph noted that after three days of significant selling, investors seized the opportunity presented by lower stock valuations.
However, tensions between the U.S. and China persist, as evidenced by China's firm commitment to 'fight to the end' in response to the U.S. administration's proposals to impose additional tariffs.
This backdrop of uncertainty continues to shape investor sentiment.
In currency markets, the British pound noted a slight recovery, trading up 0.3% against the U.S. dollar, reaching 1.276, and an increase of 0.45% against the euro at 1.170 upon the market's close.
In corporate news, shares of Ramsdens, a UK pawnbroker, soared by 14.6% to 235p following an upward revision of its profit outlook, benefiting from increased precious metal prices.
Ramsdens reported a 15% growth in profits from jewellery sales in the first half of the year.
Hilton Food Group also saw its stock rise by 0.7% to 857p, attributing its performance to a significant increase in sales driven by heightened demand in the UK market.
Conversely, BT Group experienced a decline of 3.1%, dropping to 151.3p, after analysts at UBS expressed concerns about potential negative impacts from Sky's recent strategic moves regarding broadband customer transfers to rival provider CityFibre.
The price of oil experienced a slight contraction, with Brent crude dipping by 0.34% to $63.99 (£50.11) as Tuesday's trading session reached its conclusion in London.
Among the day’s top gainers on the FTSE 100 were Rolls-Royce, which increased by 43.4p to 679.2p, Experian, up 187p to 3,278p, and Hiscox, which rose by 63p to 1,110p.
In contrast, notable fallers included BT, down 4.9p to 151.3p, and Standard Chartered, which slipped by 14.4p to 922.8p.