Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on June 2, 2025
(Reuters) -Britain's blue-chip benchmark ended flat on Monday, as losses in consumer staples and healthcare shares offset gains in heavyweight energy shares, with investors' focus on global trade after U.S. President Donald Trump's latest tariff threat.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 ended flat at 8,774.26 points, sitting less than 1% away from its all-time high seen in March.
Energy heavyweights Shell and BP rose close to 1% each, tracking a 3% surge in crude oil prices after producer group OPEC+ kept output increases in July at the same level as the previous two months.
Shares of defence firm Babcock International jumped 8.2%, while BAE Systems - Europe's biggest defence company - added 1% ahead of the publication of Britain's Strategic Defence Review.
A gauge of precious metal miners advanced 6.2% as gold prices touched a more than three-week high on the back of a weaker dollar and the lingering global tariff uncertainty.
Trump announced on late Friday his plans to increase tariffs on imported steel and aluminium to 50% from 25%, prompting the European Union to warn of potential retaliation.
British equities had a strong May performance, as easing trade tensions and Trump's softening stance on tariffs encouraged a global shift into riskier assets.
Sentiment had also been boosted after the U.S. and Britain announced a limited trade agreement earlier in May.
On Monday, big dollar earners AstraZeneca and Unilever were top drags on the FTSE 100 as the pound firmed 0.6% against the U.S. currency.
The number of mortgages approved by British lenders for house purchase fell more than expected in April to their lowest in more than a year. A gauge of homebuilders dropped 1.2%.
A separate reading showed British manufacturing's downturn was less severe than initially feared in May, though output, orders and jobs still declined.
Asset manager Aberdeen Group climbed 4.2% after Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock's rating to "buy" from "neutral".
(Reporting by Ragini Mathur and Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Alex Richardson)
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