Bank stocks boost UK equities; tariff developments in focus

(Reuters) -British stocks ended higher on Tuesday, led by gains in bank shares, with markets responding positively to news about automotive tariffs.

The White House said U.S. President Donald Trump would sign an executive order on Tuesday to soften the impact of his automotive tariffs, giving some relief to cautious investors.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 index was up 0.6%, marking its 12th consecutive winning session.

The domestically focused mid-cap index advanced 0.4%, posting its fifth straight session in green.

The banks led the sectoral gains, up 1.9%.

Heavyweight HSBC rose 2.6%, topping the FTSE 100 index, after Europe's largest lender reported first-quarter profit above estimates and announced a $3 billion share buyback program.

Among other stock-related moves, Howden Joinery gained 4.6% after posting higher revenue.

Entain rose 3.3%, after the Ladbrokes owner named Stella David as its permanent CEO.

Travis Perkins was the top performer among midcaps, rising 4.2%, as the building materials supplier reported 3.7% like-for-like revenue growth at its toolstation division in the first quarter.

On the flip side, BP fell 2.4%, after the oil major reported a deeper-than-expected 48% drop in net profit. The energy index was down 1.1%.

Primark-owner Associated British Foods tumbled 9.2% after reporting a 10% fall in first-half profit.

Britain plans to bring crypto exchanges and dealers under compulsory regulation for the first time under new draft laws announced by finance minister Rachel Reeves to regulate the crypto-asset industry.

On the data front, British grocery price inflation edged up to 3.8% in April, industry data showed.

(Reporting by Ragini Mathur and Sanchayaita Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore and Gareth Jones)