Market Report

US equities rebounded from the sell off overnight, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 up 1%, Nvidia Corp climbed 2.7% following its largest value loss in history following the concerns about the entry of a Chinese firm into A.I.

The FTSE100 Index continued to be an island of calm, pushing ahead by 0.5% as investors lapped up its plethora of defensive stocks such as telecoms and utilities.

Trump’s tariff chatter, coupled with a rebound in European stocks and a more upbeat tone in US futures, helped gold prices stage a solid recovery and partially offset Monday’s steep pullback, climbing above the $2,750 region.

The dollar firmed against major currencies on new US tariff threats. Expectations that tariffs will push up inflation prompted a scaling back of rate cut expectations which in turn boosted the US currency.

Oil futures continued to struggle as the emergence of China startup DeepSeek, whose low-cost artificial-intelligence model raised questions about whether the further development of AI will require as much power generation as previously assumed.
 
In equity markets:

Rentokil Initial gained as the pest control firm said it expects to meet expectations with its 2024 results, helped by a pick-up in organic growth in North America.

Pets at Home was up as it backed its full-year guidance but reported a dip in third-quarter revenue as it pointed to a softer performance from its retail business.