Latest market news

Lunchtime market roundup: Stocks green; Glencore up as Cobalt eyes IPO

Stocks in Europe remained higher at midday on Monday as the US and China agreed a 90-day pause of tariffs, with the price of Brent climbing comfortably while gold edged down.

The FTSE 100 index was up 31.73 points, 0.4%, at 8,586.53. The FTSE 250 was up 299.38 points, 1.1%, at 20,733.75, and the AIM All-Share was up 1.35 points, 0.2%, at 728.26.

The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.5% at 856.37, the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.8% at 18,080.49, and the Cboe Small Companies was up 0.3% at 15,589.86.

The US and China announced Monday an agreement to drastically reduce tit-for-tat tariffs for 90 days, de-escalating a trade war that has roiled financial markets and raised fears of a global economic downturn.

Following a weekend of trade talks in Geneva, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told reporters the sides had agreed to temporarily roll back ‘reciprocal tariffs’ by 115 percentage points for a 90 day period.

The US rate was down to 30% and Chinese duties cut to 10%.

The head of the World Trade Organization, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, praised the talks on Sunday as a ‘significant step forward’ that ‘bode well for the future’.

‘Amid current global tensions, this progress is important not only for the US and China but also for the rest of the world, including the most vulnerable economies,’ she added.

Stocks in New York were called higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was called up 2.1%, the S&P 500 index 2.8% higher, and the Nasdaq Composite up 3.8%.

Brent oil was quoted up at $65.69 a barrel at midday in London on Monday from $63.66 late Friday. Gold was quoted lower at $3,214.02 an ounce against $3,342.57.

In European equities on Monday, the CAC 40 in Paris edged up 1.3%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt improved 1.0%.

The UK on Monday hosted European ministers for ‘critical’ talks on ‘repelling Russian aggression’, after Ukraine’s allies demanded that Moscow accept a ceasefire.

Ministers from France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and the EU joined Foreign Secretary David Lammy in London for a meeting of the so-called ‘Weimar+’ group. The coalition was set up in February in response to shifting US policy towards the war between Ukraine and Russia, and European security in general, under President Donald Trump.

The meeting follows Saturday’s visit by the leaders of France, Germany, Poland and the UK to Kyiv, where they called for Russia to agree to an unconditional 30-day ceasefire to allow for peace talks – a proposal they said was backed by Washington.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday proposed direct negotiations with Ukraine in Istanbul on May 15, but did not respond to the European call for a 30-day ceasefire.

The pound was quoted down at $1.3172 at midday on Monday in London, compared to $1.3299 at the equities close on Friday. The euro also stood lower, at $1.1094 against $1.1263.

Against the yen, the dollar was trading higher at JP¥148.34 compared to JP¥145.18.

Glencore was up 6.1% around midday, on the back of Cobalt Holdings announcing its intention to start trading on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange in June.

Cobalt has agreed a six-year supply contract with Glencore for the supply of cobalt worth up to $1 billion, as well as a further supply contract to acquire up to 1,500 tonnes of cobalt from Anchorage in 2031.

Cobalt has made an initial $200 million purchase of cobalt from Glencore at a discount to Monday’s spot price.

Cobalt Holdings Chief Executive Officer Jake Greenberg said: ‘Our strategy is simple: to provide equity investors with direct, pure-play exposure to the price of cobalt through a low-risk, low-cost business model that sees us buying physical cobalt and holding it for the long-term...We anticipate that supply and demand will come back into balance over the coming years and will create the necessary conditions to incentivise investment in new mines and refining capacity in the West, all of which are essential to deliver the energy transition.’

Diversified Energy rose 6.0%.

The Birmingham, Alabama-based gas and oil production company said total revenue in the first quarter that ended March 31 rose 79% to $346.9 million from $193.6 million the previous year.

Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation increased 35% to $138.2 million from $102.1 million, while the adjusted Ebitda margin was unchanged at 47%. Diversified Energy also declared a dividend of 29 US cents per share for the quarter, unchanged on-year.

Looking ahead, the company reiterated its full-year guidance, which incorporates a nine-month contribution from assets gained through its acquisition of Maverick Natural Resources in March. The outlook included $825 to $875 million in adjusted Ebitda.

At the other end, Mycelx Technologies sank 13%.

The clean water and air technology firm said its pretax loss narrowed to $2.6 million in 2024 from $3.3 million in 2023, despite revenue falling 55% to $4.9 million from $10.9 million.

This was largely driven by a one-off $1.9 million gain on sale of property and equipment in 2024, as well as selling, general and administrative expenses reducing by 18% to $5.5 million from $6.7 million. Cost of goods for the year was down 49% to $3.6 million from $7.0 million.

‘Today, Mycelx stands at an important inflection point in its journey - poised to deliver growth in its core markets, profitability, and delivering the future of clean water globally. Given our continued innovation, refinement, and global deployment of our proprietary technologies, we are now seeing the commercial momentum that has been built from years of foundational work,’ said Chief Executive Officer Connie Mixon.

Still to come on Monday’s economic calendar, the US monthly budget statement at 1900 BST.

Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.