London close: Stocks fall amid worries about economic growth, Trump trade war

10th Mar 2025 08:44

(Sharecast News) - London stocks ended Monday's session firmly in the red as worries about economic growth and the impact of US President Donald's Trump's trade war dented sentiment.

The FTSE 100 closed down 0.9% at 8,600.22.

Investors were mulling the latest comments from Trump, who failed to rule out the prospect of a US recession in an interview with Fox News over the weekend.

Asked if he was expecting a recession this year, Trump said that the US would see a "period of transition" as his policies take effect.

"I hate to predict things like that," he said. "There is a period of transition because what we're doing is very big. We're bringing wealth back to America. That's a big thing... it takes a little time, but I think it should be great for us."

Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "Unease about the effect of Trump's tariffs hangs over financial markets at the start of the week. The prospect of a recession in the US is lurking, with consumer confidence falling, companies facing increasing trade complexity and investors turning more nervous. China's deflation problem is also weighing on sentiment, and geopolitical concerns are staying in focus, with attacks on Ukraine intensifying."

Streeter said the FTSE 100 was "unable to shake off the nervousness surrounding the concerns about slowing global growth".

"A disappointing snapshot from China, showing consumer price fell at the fastest rate in 13 months, is adding to concerns about weakness in the global economy," she said. "Deflation continues to stalk the Chinese economy, with consumers super-cautious about spending. The property crisis has battered wealth perceptions and led to risk averse behaviour, with wariness rising amid the ratcheting up trade tensions and fresh tariffs being imposed by the US.

"Efforts by authorities so far to reduce the cost of borrowing to stimulate growth have not had the desired effect. The expansion of a subsidy programme for a range of domestic goods underwhelmed, given the lack of more targeted support for households."

In equity markets, defence firm Rolls-Royce was the biggest faller on the FTSE 100, having been one of the top performers last week.

Shipping services firm Clarkson tumbled as it said annual profits were in line with revised expectations, but also that ongoing regional conflicts and trade tensions were creating uncertainty for markets.

Underlying pre-tax earnings came in at £115.3m in line with upgraded guidance published in January. Revenue was up to £661m from £639m.

Travis Perkins fell as it announced that chief executive Pete Redfern was stepping down with immediate effect due to ill health.

On the upside, Assura surged after saying it was minded to recommend an improved, £1.61bn cash takeover proposal from investment firms KKR and Stonepeak.

The consortium has offered 49.4p per share, which is 2.9% increase on the previous proposal of 48p per share.

The company also said it had received and rejected an indicative, non-binding proposal from Primary Health Properties about a possible all-share combination with an implied value of 43p per share.

Watches of Switzerland rallied as it launched a £25m share buyback.

Deliveroo gained as it said it had decided to exit its Hong Kong operations through a sale of certain assets to Foodpanda and the closure of other assets.

Pennon was higher after an upgrade to 'buy' at Citi. "Whilst the backdrop for the UK water sector remains uncertain, at the current share price, we believe the market is excessively discounting operational underperformance of over £500m in PNN shares, a quarter of its market cap," the bank said.

"We see a valuation gap under our framework with the risk/reward balance skewed to the upside, providing an opportunity for a mean reversion trade."

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 8,600.22 -0.92%

FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,875.18 -1.26%

techMARK (TASX) 4,774.36 -0.96%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Kingfisher (KGF) 268.60p 3.67%

Whitbread (WTB) 2,599.00p 3.38%

Severn Trent (SVT) 2,462.00p 2.88%

Land Securities Group (LAND) 564.00p 2.73%

National Grid (NG.) 953.60p 2.56%

United Utilities Group (UU.) 979.80p 2.25%

Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 260.20p 2.20%

Unilever (ULVR) 4,708.00p 2.19%

Vodafone Group (VOD) 73.90p 1.93%

LondonMetric Property (LMP) 180.50p 1.86%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 732.80p -8.56%

Entain (ENT) 663.60p -8.29%

Intermediate Capital Group (ICG) 1,998.00p -6.11%

Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 17,835.00p -5.41%

Anglo American (AAL) 2,257.50p -5.21%

Barclays (BARC) 284.55p -4.75%

Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,760.00p -4.58%

3i Group (III) 3,706.00p -3.89%

NATWEST GROUP (NWG) 438.00p -3.76%

Informa (INF) 747.40p -3.64%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Assura (AGR) 46.56p 14.29%

Sirius Real Estate Ltd. (SRE) 82.70p 4.49%

Primary Health Properties (PHP) 93.50p 3.31%

Wood Group (John) (WG.) 38.40p 2.73%

Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 462.60p 2.57%

Urban Logistics Reit (SHED) 125.20p 2.45%

Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) 590.00p 2.25%

Supermarket Income Reit (SUPR) 73.20p 2.23%

Domino's Pizza Group (DOM) 292.00p 1.88%

WH Smith (SMWH) 1,102.00p 1.85%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Clarkson (CKN) 3,500.00p -20.63%

Alpha Group International (ALPH) 2,395.00p -9.96%

Travis Perkins (TPK) 580.50p -8.37%

Ferrexpo (FXPO) 70.60p -6.98%

Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) 95.30p -6.29%

Quilter (QLT) 149.10p -5.87%

Victrex plc (VCT) 988.00p -5.73%

Hill and Smith (HILS) 1,800.00p -5.56%

Carnival (CCL) 1,380.00p -4.83%

Allianz Technology Trust (ATT) 364.00p -4.71%