British Stocks Face Pressure; Mining Shares Offer Support
(Reuters) -The FTSE 100 rose on Friday, with gains in mining stocks providing some support even as escalating fears over U.S.-China trade tensions left investors wary after a week of tariff-induced uncertainty.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 index was up 0.6%. But the index fell 1.1% for the week, its second straight week of losses.
Meanwhile, the midcap FTSE 250 was flat. The index gained 0.7% for the week.
Stocks have been on a roller-coaster ride over the past week due to tariff turmoil. [MKTS/GLOB]
Earlier this week, U.S. President Donald Trump paused duties for dozens of countries for 90 days, giving markets a brief reprieve, with British stocks recording their strongest session in three years.
But investors remained cautious due to ongoing U.S.-China trade tensions and recession fears. China on Friday raised its tariffs on U.S. imports to 125%, retaliating against Trump's raising duties on Chinese goods to 145%, intensifying the tit-for-tat trade war between the two biggest global economies.
Back home, Britain's economy returned to growth with a 0.5% expansion in February, beating economists' expectations and showing it was on a slightly firmer footing as it braces for the impact of U.S. tariffs.
After the stronger-than-expected GDP data, traders curbed their Bank of England rate cut expectations.
Rate-sensitive British bank stocks were up 0.8%, also lifted by positive corporate results from U.S. peers. HSBC Holdings was among the top gainers in the FTSE 100, up 2.7%.
Precious metal miners Fresnillo and Endeavour Mining were top performers on the blue-chip index, gaining 7.4% and 6.4%, respectively, on rising bullion prices. [GOL/]
Industrial metal miners gained 2.7% as London base metals were mostly higher, with copper headed for a weekly rise.
The energy index, however, fell 1.2%, leading sectoral declines, dragged by heavyweight BP. The energy group fell 2.9% after it said it expects weak first-quarter gas marketing and trading earnings, and an increase in net debt.
British 20- and 30-year government bond yields were on course for their biggest weekly jump since the aftermath of Liz Truss's "mini-budget" in 2022 as the U.S.-China trade war escalated, igniting long-term inflation worries.
(Reporting by Ragini Mathur and Sanchayaita Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore and Jane Merriman)
