Source: Sharecast
The Footsie, which was down 0.2% at 8,579.12 by the midday mark, has gained around 12% since 9 April and is currently trading close to levels seen before Donald Trump unleashed his protectionist tariff measures on America's trading partners at the start of last month.
UK market participants were also catching up to the latest newsflow following a three-day weekend, with US markets having closed lower on Monday.
"Coming in the wake of yesterday’s end to the SPX nine-day winning streak, there are concerns that the FTSE 100 will follow suit to halt the longest stretch of daily gains on record," said Joshua Mahony, chief market analyst at Scope Markets.
Potential trade talks were firmly in focus throughout the session on reports that the White House was nearing a deal with India after the South Asian nation proposed zero tariffs on steel, auto components and pharmaceuticals on a reciprocal basis, up to a certain amount of imports.
"The pop we have seen in equities over the past fortnight does heighten the possibility that we soon see the bears return in the absence of any notable breakthrough in trade talks," Mahony said.
In economic news, the final reading of the S&P Global UK services PMI confirmed the first decline in business activity in 17 months in April as sentiment was hit by the introduction of trade tariffs in the US. The services PMI was revised up marginally to 49.0 from the 'flash' reading of 48.9 released two weeks ago, but well below the 52.5 recorded in March – signalling the steepest drop since January 2023.
Over in China, the closely followed Caixin services PMI fell to 50.7 last month, down from 51.9 in March and well below the 51.7 reading expected by a consensus of analysts. This was the 28th straight month of growth (above 50.0) but the lowest print since September.
Gold miners jump
Another jump in the price of gold was helping shares of Fresnillo, Hochschild Mining and Endeavour Mining higher, as bullion gained on dollar weakness ahead of this week's Fed decision. Gold futures on Comex were up 2% at $3,386.60 an ounce.
Retailers were putting in a decent performance, including Sainsbury, Tesco and B&Q owner Kingfisher. M&S, however, was down another 4% as the company continues to pause online orders in the aftermath of last month's cyberattack.
Primark Owner Associated British Foods also fell after confirming it was in talks on a potential sale of its Allied Bakeries unit with Hovis bread owner Endless.
Online food delivery company Deliveroo was higher after reaching an agreement with US rival DoorDash on the terms of a recommended final cash offer, with its American rival set to pay £2.9bn for the consolidation. The stock, up 2% on Tuesday, has now risen more than 55% over the past month.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 8,579.12 -0.20%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,225.26 -0.08%
techMARK (TASX) 4,654.57 -0.19%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,048.00p 3.25%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,308.00p 2.57%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 269.20p 2.20%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 609.00p 1.42%
Entain (ENT) 681.20p 1.40%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 71.56p 1.39%
Tesco (TSCO) 376.00p 1.35%
Admiral Group (ADM) 3,300.00p 1.29%
Kingfisher (KGF) 291.20p 1.15%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,365.00p 1.11%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Smurfit Westrock (DI) (SWR) 2,915.00p -5.14%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 361.60p -4.29%
CRH (CDI) (CRH) 7,078.00p -4.09%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,064.00p -3.37%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 440.80p -3.31%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,107.00p -3.23%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,063.50p -3.01%
WPP (WPP) 573.40p -2.81%
Pearson (PSON) 1,157.50p -2.11%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 925.20p -2.03%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 292.80p 6.78%
Endeavour Mining (EDV) 2,234.00p 6.18%
Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) 130.90p 5.31%
Plus500 Ltd (DI) (PLUS) 3,228.00p 3.46%
Alpha Group International (ALPH) 2,900.00p 3.20%
Ashmore Group (ASHM) 148.60p 3.19%
Spire Healthcare Group (SPI) 201.50p 2.81%
Moonpig Group (MOON) 240.50p 2.34%
NB Private Equity Partners Ltd. (NBPE) 1,460.00p 2.24%
Pollen Street Group Limited (POLN) 776.00p 2.11%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 65.00p -16.34%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 1,634.00p -5.39%
Future (FUTR) 707.50p -3.41%
Bridgepoint Group (Reg S) (BPT) 265.40p -3.00%
Harbour Energy (HBR) 156.30p -2.86%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 266.50p -2.81%
Vistry Group (VTY) 631.60p -2.71%
Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 1,692.00p -2.65%
WH Smith (SMWH) 889.50p -2.63%
RS Group (RS1) 514.00p -2.37%