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Lunchtime market roundup: Stocks rise as tech tariff relief lifts mood

London stocks were up at midday on Monday as news that US tariffs will exempt smartphones and other electronics lifted tech sentiment globally, despite ongoing geopolitical tensions and mixed signals from Washington.

AJ Bell’s Russ Mould commented: ‘An announcement slipped out quietly late on Friday exempting smartphones and other electronic goods and components from reciprocal tariffs is making a big noise in the markets on Monday.’

‘Asian stocks made meaningful advances on the show of flexibility and European markets opened firmly higher too... But Trump’s subsequent comments that no one was ’getting off the hook’ have complicated matters with this category of goods apparently set to be placed in a different tariff ’bucket’.

‘Adding another layer of complexity onto an already complex trade policy may not be that well received by investors, but in the short term there is still likely to be palpable relief, particularly for the likes of Apple and Nvidia.’

The FTSE 100 index was up 148.42 points, 1.9%, at 8,112.60. The FTSE 250 was up 334.01 points, 1.8%, at 18,848.86, and the AIM All-Share was up 7.26 points, 1.1%, at 655.09.

The Cboe UK 100 was up 1.9% at 808.18, the Cboe UK 250 was up 2.0% at 16,389.39, and the Cboe Small Companies was up 0.1% at 14,833.82.

On the FTSE 250, Kainos gained 5.2%.

The London-based provider of IT services to public sector, commercial and healthcare customers reported a ‘solid’ performance in its financial fourth quarter, and is confident in delivering revenue in line with forecasts for the full year.

Kainos said it saw ‘improved’ business in its final quarter, expecting revenue for the financial year that ended March 31 to be in line with consensus forecasts of between £363.3 million and £366.8 million. This would, however, be down at least 4.1% from financial 2024’s revenue of £382.4 million.

It expects its adjusted pretax profit to also be in line with analyst forecasts which range from £64.1 million to £68.2 million. This would be down at least 12% from the financial 2024 result.

On AIM, Scancell gained 21%.

The Oxford, UK-based pharmaceutical firm announced a partnership with the NHS Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad, which it said will fast-track access for NHS patients into the fourth cohort of its phase 2 Scope clinical trial.

Scancell expects the first patients to be referred from May onwards.

Pantheon Resources dropped 44%.

The Alaska-focused oil and gas explorer said no appreciable hydrocarbons were produced from flow testing of the first of six intervals in the planned Megrez-1 well testing programme.

‘Preliminary analysis indicates that although the reservoir is oil bearing, it appears to be in a transition zone with limited to no mobile oil and gas,’ Pantheon added.

In other small-caps, John Wood rose 12%.

The Aberdeen-based oilfield and engineering services firm said it is ‘minded to recommend’ an approximate £240 million proposed offer from Sidara, which is planning a $450 million capital injection alongside the 35 pence per share cash bid.

‘Having carefully considered the viability of these options together with its financial advisers, the board of Wood currently believes that the possible offer represents the better option for Wood’s shareholders, creditors and other stakeholders,’ the company added.

Still, Mould commented: ‘Once a big success story in the UK energy industry, Wood Group looks set to succumb to a pretty sorry end, although shareholders may be only too willing to draw a line at this point given the company’s recent struggles...[Sidar’s proposal] feels very small beer compared with the 230p on the table before Sidara walked away from a deal last summer but beggars cannot be choosers and such is Wood Group’s perilous position it has little choice but to accept what is on offer, particularly given Sidara is pitching a potential capital injection as part of the agreement.

‘Wood Group rather forlornly says it is looking at alternative refinancing options but the fact it is minded to recommend a firm offer if it is forthcoming is telling.’

In domestic news, the UK government rushed urgent legislation through parliament on Saturday to stop the blast furnaces at British Steel’s plant from being turned off, after owners Jingye said it was no longer financially viable to keep them burning. Britain’s Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds later said London had been ‘naive’ to let the Chinese firm take over part of the sensitive steel industry.

A spokesman for China’s foreign ministry urged the British government on Monday to ‘avoid politicising trade cooperation or linking it to security issues, so as not to impact the confidence of Chinese enterprises in going to the UK’.

‘When it comes to the operational difficulties currently faced by British Steel, the two sides should negotiate a solution on the basis of mutual benefit,’ Lin Jian told a regular news briefing in Beijing.

Beijing hopes London will ‘treat Chinese businesses that have invested and operate in the UK fairly and justly, [and] protect their legitimate and lawful rights and interests’.

In European equities on Monday, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 2.0%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was up 2.4%.

The pound was quoted higher at $1.3179 at midday on Monday in London, compared to $1.3057 at the equities close on Friday. The euro stood at $1.1389, higher against $1.1339. Against the yen, the dollar was trading lower at JP¥143.22 compared to JP¥143.46.

In Asia, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo closed up 1.2%. In China, the Shanghai Composite closed up 0.8%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong closed up 2.4%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed up 1.3%.

China’s leader Xi Jinping has started a week of diplomacy in South-east Asia with a visit to Vietnam.

‘There are no winners in a trade war, or a tariff war,’ Xi wrote in an editorial jointly published in Vietnamese and Chinese official media.

‘Our two countries should resolutely safeguard the multilateral trading system, stable global industrial and supply chains, and open and co-operative international environment.’

The timing of the visit sends a ‘strong political message that South-east Asia is important to China,’ said International Crisis Group Asia Deputy Director Huong Le-Thu.

‘Xi’s trip is to showcase how China is the opposite to the coercive and self-interested US. There will be a lot of expectations about what type of leadership and initiatives China is going to come up with at this time of crisis,’ she added.

Stocks in New York were called higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was called up 0.9%, the S&P 500 index up 1.2%, and the Nasdaq Composite up 1.4%.

In US equities, a trial which could see social media giant Meta Platforms Inc forced to sell off Instagram and WhatsApp begins in the US later on Monday.

The tech giant, which also owns Facebook, faces an antitrust lawsuit from the US government which alleges the firm bought Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014 to eliminate competition, creating a social media monopoly in the process.

The US Federal Trade Commission approved the acquisitions at the time but as a competition watchdog has continued to monitor the outcomes. Experts say if it wins the case and forces a sale to break up Meta, it could change the landscape of the social media sector.

Brent oil was quoted higher at $65.37 a barrel at midday in London on Monday from $63.43 late Friday.

Gold was quoted lower at $3,208.10 an ounce against $3,239.41.

Still to come on Monday’s economic calendar are comments from the Federal Reserve’s Christopher Waller.

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