FTSE 100 Up Sharply As Stocks Rally On U.S. Tariff Pause

(RTTNews) - U.K. stocks got off to a rousing start on Thursday, lifted by strong global cues following U.S. President Donald Trump announcing a 90-day pause of reciprocal tariffs on most U.S. trade partners, excluding China, to facilitate renewed trade negotiations.

The benchmark FTSE 100, which surged to 8,165.35, gaining nearly 500 points, was up 358.77 points or 4.67% at 8,038.25 a little while ago.

Barclays is up with a hefty gain of 11.6%. Melrose Industries is soaring 10.5%, while JD Sports Fashion and Intermediate Capital Group are up 9.7% and 9.5%, respectively.

Polar Capital Technology Trust, Anglo American Plc, Pershing Square Holdings, 3i Group, Informa, Mondi, IAG, WPP, Experian, Intercontinental Hotels Group, St. James's Place, Easyjet and Standard Chartered are up 7 to 9%.

Schroders, BP, Natwest Group, Hikma Pharmaceuticals, Land Securities, M&G, Antofagasta, Entain, Intertek Group, Prudential, Rentokil Initial, HSBC Holdings, AstraZeneca, Glencore, Smiths Group, BT Group, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Persimmon, Beazley, Diploma, Coca-Cola and Convatec Group are among the several other strong gainers.

Tesco is down 5.6% after the British food retailer said it expects to make lower profits this year amid intensifying competition in the market.

Sainsbury (J), down 4.5% and Marks & Spencer (down 0.6%) are the other stocks missing out on the rally.

The UK housing market conditions weakened in March as demand faded following the end of stamp duty holiday amid rising concerns about economic outlook, survey data showed.

New buyer demand turned negative and hit the lowest since September 2023, the Residential Market Survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors showed. The index slid sharply to -32% in March from -16% in February.

Looking ahead, three-month sales expectations pointed to further dip in activity over the near term. The index hit -18% compared to -6% in February.