Global stocks news ahead of Donald Trump ‘liberation day’: Financial markets bounce back after widespread turbulence

Donald Trump’s so-called ‘liberation day’ has sparked widespread turbulence in the financial markets but global stocks are now bouncing back after tariff uncertainty. Tariffs continued to be at the forefront of investors’ minds though, ahead of the US President’s Wednesday (April 2) deadline for potential plans to impose more levies on the US’s trading partners.

The mood among investors was stronger than on Monday when Markets were spooked by fresh threats from Trump. London’s FTSE 100 moved higher on Tuesday, gaining 51.99 points, or 0.61%, to close at 8,634.8.

Europe’s top indexes also staged a rebound after starting the week with sharp losses. In Frankfurt, the Dax jumped 1.7% and in Paris, the Cac 40 gained 1.1%.

It was a more choppy start to trading across the pond. On Wall Street, the S&P 500 was up 0.4%, while Dow Jones was edging 0.1% despite starting the day lower.

Meanwhile in the UK, new figures from analysts Kantar showed grocery price inflation edged higher last month but supermarkets continue to compete for customers. Danni Hewson, head of financial analysis at AJ Bell, said: “On London markets the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 have both pared back yesterday’s losses and looked remarkably chipper considering it’s the start of what has been dubbed ‘Awful April’ for consumers.

“Tesco and Sainsbury’s shares were under pressure as the latest insight into shopping habits from Kantar showed people were studiously hunting out bargains, with 28% of all sales last month subject to promotional price cuts. Both of the big two grocers saw market share increase but they’re being chased by the discounters Aldi and Lidl as well as a wounded Asda determined to fight back.”

The pound was more or less flat against the US dollar, at 1.292, and up about 0.15% against the euro, at 1.196. In company news, Travis Perkins said that its sales had dropped last year, shrinking by 4.7% to £4.6 billion.

The business cited reduced prices for its products as well as lower demand for the weaker performance. It linked “depressed levels of UK construction activity” to a 6.2% slump in its merchanting arm, but said that Toolstation had grown as it opened new stores. Shares in the builders’ merchant closed down 10.2%.

Meanwhile Greencore, which supplies sandwiches to some of the UK’s biggest supermarkets, saw its shares rise by 5.6% after upgrading its profit forecast for the year. The business said it now expects underlying operating profit to reach between £112 million to £115 million during the current financial year.

Consumer goods giant Unilever said that it is taking over Wild, a company best known for its refillable deodorants and lip balms, with reports indicating the deal could be for as much as £230 million. Shares were largely flat, ending the day up 0.2%.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Rolls-Royce, up 30.4p to 779.4p, Hiscox, up 32p to 1,208p, Rentokil, up 8.6p to 356.2p, easyJet, up 10.1p to 452.4p, and JD Sports, up 1.5p to 69.4p.

The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were WPP, down 21p to 560.2p, Sainsbury’s, down 4.6p to 230.6p, Informa, down 13.8p to 755.6p, IAG, down 3.4p to 257.4p, and St James’s Place, down 11.4p to 965.6p.