London’s top financial index inched higher to continue its recent winning streak despite wavering during the trading session amid further concerns over US tariffs.
The FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 were both higher at the close of play after they were boosted by takeover announcements and speculation.
The FTSE 100 finished up by 0.01%, or 1.07 points, to close at 8,597.42, after it was particularly buoyed by reports that oil giant BP could be a takeover target.
London stocks benefited from confirmation of a UK-India trade deal, as other major European markets were under pressure due to concerns that President Trump will announce more tariffs.
The Cac 40 ended 0.4% lower for the day and the Dax index was down 0.46%.
Axel Rudolph, senior technical analyst at IG, said: “Whereas most Asian stock indices, including China’s, rose on Tuesday despite the country’s services growth slowing to a seven-month low, US markets remained on track for their second straight day of falling share prices.
“The lingering threat of new tariffs being imposed by President Trump led to a rise in the gold price on safe haven flows and an outflow of US stocks into Asian and European indices.”
In currency, the pound was 0.54% higher at 1.336 US dollars and was up 0.34% at 1.178 euro when London’s markets closed.
In company news, BP was in the green following reports that its rival, Shell, is exploring a possible acquisition of the oil and gas giant.
The rise, which came after a recent slump in the stock’s value, was driven by weekend reports that Shell has been weighing the merits of a takeover with advisers in recent weeks.
BP shares finished up 1.4% at 355.15p on Tuesday as a result.
Deliveroo made gains after the takeaway delivery group agreed to a takeover by its US rival DoorDash in a deal worth around £2.9 billion.
San Francisco-based DoorDash will pay 180p a share in cash for London-listed Deliveroo in a move set to create a combined firm with a presence across 40 countries and handling about 90 billion US dollars (£67.7 billion) of orders each year.
Shares in London-listed Deliveroo rose by 1.9% to 175.4p.
Alpha Group also lifted in value after the financial services firm rebuffed a takeover proposal from US-based Corpay. The London firm closed up 8.5% at 3,050p.
Marks & Spencer shares slipped further to drop to their lowest level for almost a month due to the continued fallout from its cyber attack, which caused the retailer to pause all online orders. Shares fell 4.7% to 360.2p.
Oil prices ticked back higher on Tuesday after recent declines, despite concerns that further US tariffs could weigh on global economic growth.
A barrel of Brent crude oil was 3.9% higher at 62.58 dollars (£46.86) as markets were closing in London.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Endeavour Mining, up 110p to 2,214p, Fresnillo, up 47.12p to 1,063p, Sainsbury’s, up 9p to 272.4p, Babcock, up 23.5p to 865.5p, and Entain, up 16p to 687.8p.
The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Marks & Spencer, down 17.6p to 360.2p, Standard Chartered, down 40.5p to 1,056p, Mondi, down 32.5p to 1,111.5p, Barclays, down 8.63p to 298.1p, and WPP, down 11.8p to 578.2p.
