London open: Stocks rise amid tariff relief; B&M slides on profit warning

(Sharecast News) - London stocks rose in early trade on Thursday as investors breathed a sigh of relief after US President Donald Trump ditched plans to impose tariffs on European nations that opposed his pursuit of Greenland, and hailed the framework of a deal on the territory.

At 0835 GMT, the FTSE 100 was up 0.7% at 10,210.02.

In a post on Truth Social late on Wednesday, Trump said that based on a "very productive" meeting, he and Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte have formed "the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland and, in fact, the entire Arctic Region".

"This solution, if consummated, will be a great one for the United States of America, and all NATO Nations," he wrote.

"Based upon this understanding, I will not be imposing the Tariffs that were scheduled to go into effect on February 1st. Additional discussions are being held concerning The Golden Dome as it pertains to Greenland."

Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "The FTSE has followed global markets upwards this morning after Donald Trump backed off on threats to tariff key European trading partners in February over opposition to his plans to acquire Greenland. He's also ruled out the use of force and claimed that a framework for a deal on Greenland was being discussed with NATO.

"The relatively light sell-off that came with the initial announcement on tariffs suggests investors were already sceptical about the prospects for economic or military escalation, and so far, the unified response by Denmark's European allies looks to have had the desired effect. But the hectic nature of today's geopolitical theatre means further market shocks can't be ruled out, and the President's Davos speech today could move markets in either direction."

On home shores, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed public sector borrowing fell in December to £11.6bn, down by £7.1bn or 38% on December 2024.

Public sector borrowing declined to £11.6bn, down by £7.1bn or 38% on December 2024. Despite the drop, it was the tenth highest December figure since monthly records began in 1993, not adjusted for inflation.

Borrowing is the difference between total public sector spending and income.

Borrowing in the financial year to December was £140.4bn, down by £0.3bn or 0.2% on the same nine-month period of 2024, but still the third-highest April to December borrowing on record after those of 2020 and 2024.

ONS senior statistician Tom Davies said: "Borrowing in December was substantially down on the same month in 2024, as a result of receipts being up strongly on last year whereas spending is only modestly higher.

"However, across the first nine months of the financial year as a whole, borrowing was fractionally lower than in the same period in 2024."

In equity markets, AJ Bell advanced as it hailed record first-quarter platform assets under administration of £108bn.

Senior was a high riser as it said its full-year performance would be "comfortably above" previous expectations, while Vesuvius surged after an upgrade to 'outperform' at BNP Paribas.

Computacenter shot higher as it said full-year adjusted pre-tax profit was set to be "comfortably ahead" of market expectations.

On the downside, precious metals miner Fresnillo lost its shine as gold and silver prices eased, while defence firms BAE Systems, Babcock and Rolls-Royce also fell as geopolitical tensions receded.

B&M European Value Retail tumbled after it slashed full-year guidance despite an uptick in festive sales.

Updating on its third-quarter performance, the embattled budget chain said its seasonal ranges had sold well, with UK like-for-like sales up 3% in December and "similar trends" continuing into early January trading.

However, looking to the full-year and B&M warned it now expects adjusted EBITDA to come in between £440m and £475m, compared to its previous range of £470m to £520m.

B&M said the move reflected "ongoing investments in pricing and clearance" as well as the poor performance of Heron Foods.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 10,210.02 0.71% FTSE 250 (MCX) 23,276.43 0.89% techMARK (TASX) 5,894.99 0.77%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Land Securities Group (LAND) 650.50p 2.28% easyJet (EZJ) 493.80p 2.21% British American Tobacco (BATS) 4,341.00p 2.19% St James's Place (STJ) 1,480.00p 2.17% IMI (IMI) 2,728.00p 2.10% 3i Group (III) 3,340.00p 2.08% Imperial Brands (IMB) 3,053.00p 2.00% Vodafone Group (VOD) 102.95p 1.93% Smurfit Westrock (DI) (SWR) 3,151.00p 1.91% British Land Company (BLND) 412.00p 1.88%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Babcock International Group (BAB) 1,454.00p -2.09% Fresnillo (FRES) 3,990.00p -1.48% Rio Tinto (RIO) 6,558.00p -1.25% BAE Systems (BA.) 2,043.00p -0.92% Antofagasta (ANTO) 3,565.00p -0.83% Glencore (GLEN) 496.45p -0.71% Haleon (HLN) 375.00p -0.58% Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 13,500.00p -0.30% Anglo American (AAL) 3,393.00p -0.24% Tesco (TSCO) 421.50p -0.17%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Senior (SNR) 249.50p 9.43% Vesuvius (VSVS) 466.60p 7.12% Computacenter (CCC) 3,256.00p 6.41% Me Group International (MEGP) 139.80p 4.33% Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 210.50p 3.95% Hays (HAS) 47.72p 3.69% Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 62.55p 3.05% Future (FUTR) 522.00p 2.86% Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 900.00p 2.86% Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 1,305.00p 2.84%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 165.90p -4.16% Harbour Energy (HBR) 216.20p -2.61% Endeavour Mining (EDV) 4,216.00p -1.45% C&C Group (CDI) (CCR) 125.40p -1.42% Twentyfour Income Fund Limited Ord Red (TFIF) 113.00p -1.40% QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 525.50p -1.31% Avon Technologies (AVON) 1,970.00p -1.01% Ruffer Investment Company Ltd Red PTG Pref Shares (RICA) 300.00p -0.66% Pan African Resources (PAF) 131.80p -0.60% Foresight Group Holdings Limited NPV (FSG) 435.00p -0.57%