FTSE 100 Recovers After Weak Start, Up Marginally In Cautious Trade

(RTTNews) - After opening marginally lower and drifting down further, U.K. stocks recovered lost ground and emerged above the flat line on Tuesday. Concerns over fresh tariffs proposed by the Trump administration, and a possible U.S. government shutdown appear to be weighing on sentiment.

The Trump administration has imposed tariffs on imported lumber, kitchen furniture, and bathroom furniture made of wood, starting October 14, with further increases planned for January 1.

About an hour past noon, the benchmark FTSE 100 was up 16.06 points or 0.17% at 9,315.90. The index had earlier dropped to 9,266.29.

Rentokil Initial is gaining about 3.1%. Airtel Africa and Reckitt Benckiser are up 2.75% and 2.5%, respectively. JD Sports Fashion is up 1.8% and 3i Group is rising 1.7%.

Hikma Pharmaceuticals, Melrose Industries, Babcock International, Informa, GSK, Weir Group, Barratt Redrow, Beazley, Auto Trader Group and Lloyds Banking Group are up 1 to 1.5%.

Close Brothers drifted down more than 3%, but recovered subsequently and was last seen up in positive territory with a marginal gain. The company swung to a full-year loss of £122.4 million and withheld a final dividend for the year, citing ongoing uncertainty around the Financial Conduct Authority's review of motor finance commission arrangements.

Online fashion giant ASOS is down more than 10% after warning that its annual revenue would miss market expectations.

BT Group is declining by about 2.5%. Endeavour Mining, Metlen Energy & Metals, Ashtead Group, Croda International, Mondi, Pershing Square Holdings, BP, Antofagasta and Coca-Cola HBC are down 0.7 to 1.7%.

On the economic front, a report from the Office for National Statistics said the UK economy grew at a slower pace in the second quarter as increases in services and construction were partially offset by the contraction in production.

Real gross domestic product expanded by an unrevised 0.3% in the second quarter, following a quarterly growth of 0.7% in the first quarter.

The dominant service sector grew 0.4% and construction output advanced 1%. Partially offsetting these gains, production fell 0.8%.

In the second quarter, real GDP was 1.4% higher than in the same period last year, data showed.

Real annual GDP in 2024 advanced 1.1%, which was unrevised from the previous estimate.

Another report from the ONS showed that the underlying current account deficit, excluding precious metals, widened to GBP 23.8 billion or 3.2% of GDP, in the second quarter.