London stocks were treading water on Thursday as Europe was broadly unmoved by a US court ruling on President Trump’s tariff plans.
The move by the US Court of International Trade to block reciprocal tariffs unilaterally imposed by the President was, however, welcomed on Wall Street which made further gains after the opening bell.
But traders in the UK, which is expected to see its set of US tariffs largely unchanged, failed to react much to the news, with sentiment largely directed by earnings updates, including a poor reception to figures from Auto Trader.
The FTSE 100 London’s top index finished down by 0.11%, or 9.56 points, to close at 8,716.45.
Europe’s other major markets lost early gains as investors and traders digested the tariff ruling, with analysts suggesting it may ultimately have little impact.
The Cac 40 ended flat for the day, while the Dax index was down 0.29%.
Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG, said: “For the FTSE 100 and other European markets, today has been a case of selling the news.
“Indices on the continent have struggled to make headway today but, given the size of the rally in recent weeks and the looming month-end, it is perhaps not surprising to see the move take a breather.
“The Trump administration is sure to appeal the decision, and will also look to employ other methods to impose tariffs, so the court decision is not a definitive resolution of the issue.”
In the US, the tech-focused Nasdaq opened higher as it was also buoyed by gains from Nvidia after the chip giant’s latest trading update.
Meanwhile, sterling pulled back some ground against the dollar during the session.
The pound was 0.11% higher at 1.348 US dollars and was down 0.5% at 1.186 euros when London’s markets closed.
In company news, Auto Trader was a notable faller despite revealing growing demand for used cars.
The car-selling platform revealed that the UK’s new car market grew 3% last year, but this was driven by sales of company or “fleet” vehicles, while sales to consumers fell 4% year-on-year.
Shares in the company dropped by 11.3% at the end of trading.
FTSE 100 firm Relx slipped in value after it was knocked by US health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr’s threat to ban government scientists publishing in medical journals.
The publisher of The Lancet, which was among titles mentioned directly by Mr Kennedy, saw shares slip by 1.9% as a result.
Bowling alley operator Hollywood Bowl was firmly lower at the close after the recent spell of warm weather dented sales as Britons headed out into the sunshine.
Shares in the business were 10.3% lower after it suffered a “short-term” hit to its UK bowling chain between March and May, during the sunniest UK spring on record.
The price of oil pulled back after initially climbing due to hopes the tariff ruling could support international energy demand.
A barrel of Brent crude oil was 1.65% lower at 62.12 dollars (£46.04) as markets were closing in London.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were: Segro, up 27.8p to 701p; Fresnillo, up 37p to 1,171p; ConvaTec, up 8.6p to 290.4p; Glencore, up 5.85p to 277.9p; and Legal & General, up 4.2p to 246.8p.
The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were: Auto Trader, down 101.4p to 798.6p; National Grid, down 40.5p to 1,031p; CocaCola HBC, down 94p to 3,842p; Severn Trent, down 62p to 2,660p; and Kingfisher, down 6.1p to 279.2p.
