WH Smith shareholders eye growth plans after sale of high street stores April 13, 2025 Investors in WH Smith will be keen for more details on its strategy after agreeing to sell its UK high street stores and the potential impact of US tariffs when the retail firm updates the market next week. It has been a busy start to 2025 for the historic retailer as it has pivoted to [...]
Reeves unveils £500m support for tariff-affected small businesses April 13, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves has launched a £500m plan to smaller businesses affected by US president Donald Trump’s tariffs. Run by the British Business Bank, the Growth Guarantee Scheme will now provide additional lending capacity for firms that will need support with cashflow issues due to changes in tariffs. Lending up to £2m per business group, [...]
Polestar takes advantage of Tesla sales slump April 10, 2025 Polestar is benefitting from Tesla’s well-publicised slump as it revealed a huge growth in global sales for the first three months of 2025. The Swedish company, which is listed on the US Nasdaq, has sold an estimated 12,304 cars since the turn of the year, 76 per cent up compared to the same period in [...]
S&P 500 slumps on open as Treasury yields remain elevated April 10, 2025 US markets have opened down after digesting the implications of Donald Trump’s 90-day pause on his sweeping tariffs. The Nasdaq opened down 2.7 per cent, while the Dow Jones fell 1.9 per cent and the S&P 500 opened 2.3 per cent down. Meanwhile, US Treasury yields have remained elevated, with the 30-year US Treasury sitting [...]
Market crash is yet to come despite tariff pause, says City veteran April 10, 2025 A City veteran has warned that despite an apparent respite from a 90-day pause on US tariffs, markets should prepare for a significant correction in the coming days. “I don’t think its impossible that we walk in tomorrow and the market is off in the US 15 or 20 per cent, honestly I think that’s [...]
UK-India trade deal reportedly 90 per cent agreed, businesses told April 10, 2025 The UK’s trade deal with India is reportedly 90 per cent agreed, businesses have been told, according to a report in the Guardian. Firms were informed on a call with trade negotiators this week that some remaining issues included cars, pharmaceutical drugs and the whisky trade, the newspaper reported, with India currently the largest overseas [...]
Tariffs to take focus as HSBC and Barclays kick off FTSE 100 bank results April 10, 2025 First-quarter results season is around the corner for the UK’s major banks, with HSBC and Barclays set to report at the end of the month. Whilst President Donald Trump launched his tariff onslaught at the beginning of April – narrowly missing the first reporting period of the year – lenders are expected to factor the [...]
FTSE 100: JD Sports back in fashion after share buyback and tariff U-turn April 10, 2025 JD Sports’ share price shot up more than 10 per cent this morning after the company announced a share buyback programme and US President Donald Trump announced a pause on tariffs. The FTSE-100 firm was set to be one of the UK retailers most exposed to the tariffs, as its suppliers source the majority of [...]
EU pauses counter-tariffs after Trump backs down April 10, 2025 President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen has said the European Union will pause their reciprocal tariffs against the US, but warned it will hit back if trade negotiations fail. In a post on X, von der Leyen said: “We want to give negotiations a chance… “If negotiations are not satisfactory, our countermeasures [...]
Starmer says UK government must ‘rise to the moment’ on tariffs April 10, 2025 The UK government needs to “rise to the moment”, Sir Keir Starmer said, adding that he would not “pretend” US President Donald Trump’s tariffs are “good news”. Speaking this morning after Trump announced a 90-day pause in his sweeping global tariffs, while raising his tax rate on Chinese imports to 125 per cent, the Prime [...]