Friday,14 February 2025 08:18:07

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Friday,14 February 2025 at 08:14

European stock markets closed higher amid a flurry of earnings and economic data and rising hopes of an end to the Russia-Ukraine war. Markets rose even as investors braced for a new swathe of tariffs to potentially be announced by U.S. President Donald Trump, who posted on social media in the early U.S. hours: “TODAY IS THE BIG ONE: RECIPROCAL TARIFFS!!!”

Asia-Pacific markets were mixed, after Wall Street rose overnight as President Donald Trump signed a reciprocal tariffs plan, but did not enact the levies immediately.

Oil prices rose in early trade, set to snap a three-week losing streak, amid rising fuel demand and expectations that Trump’s plans for reciprocal global tariffs would not come into effect until April, giving more time to avoid a trade war.

Gold prices held steady and were poised for a seventh consecutive weekly gain as U.S. President Donald Trump’s plans to impose reciprocal tariffs on every country taxing U.S. imports fuelled concerns of a global trade war.

Annual profit at NatWest beat expectations as operating costs and tight margins weighed on earnings. Pre-tax operating profit rose 0.3% to £6.2bn in the 12 months to 31 December compared with estimates of £6.1bn.

Bloomberg cited people familiar with the matter as saying that HSBC will initiate a fresh round of layoffs at its investment bank as early as Monday. The first cuts will be carried out in Asia and then be expanded to the rest of the lender's staff. The number of redundancies was not clear.

Markets

AT 08:15

FTSE 100 8,738 (-0.30%)

FTSE 250 20,927 +0.05%

DAX 22,612 +2.09%

AT THE CLOSE

Dow Jones 44,711 +0.77%

S&P 500 6,115 +1.04%

NASDAQ 19,945 +1.50%

Fixed Income

UK 10-YR YIELD 4.521

Exchange Rates

GBP/USD 1.257

GBP/EUR 1.200

Commodities

Gold $2,935 +0.31%

Brent $75.43 (-0.24%)

Important - No news or research item should be construed as a recommendation to trade. The inclusion of securities within this report does not necessarily imply their suitability for individual portfolios or situations in respect of which further advice should be sought. Information contained in this report has been compiled from sources believed to be reliable but is not warranted to be accurate or complete.