FTSE 100 touches above 9,000 for the first time
The top tier later eased back to stand 3.34 points lower at 8994.72 by mid-morning.
Markets across Europe lifted tentatively with the Dax in Germany and France's Cac 40 up 0.3% and 0.2% respectively.
Investors were optimistic that a deal can still be reached between the US and EU, despite the latest tariff threats from US President Donald Trump.
Mr Trump said on Saturday that major trading partners Mexico and the EU would face a 30% tariff starting next month, piling on the pressure for deals to be struck.
Some stocks were struggling on the FTSE despite the record being reached, with Barratt Redrow plunging to the bottom of the top tier, shedding 7% after a disappointing update, which also dragged rival housebuilders Persimmon and Berkeley Group lower.
Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor, said a speech by Chancellor Rachel Reeves later will also be in sharp focus.
She said: 'UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves prepares to deliver her closely watched Mansion House speech tonight when she is anticipated to outline a series of financial reforms including measures to improve mortgage access.'
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6 minutes ago
- Reuters
US tariffs could have pandemic-like impact on planemaker Embraer, CEO says
SAO PAULO, July 15 (Reuters) - The 50% tariff that U.S. President Donald Trump plans to impose on Brazilian exports starting in August could hammer the revenue of planemaker Embraer ( opens new tab like the COVID-19 pandemic did, its CEO warned on Tuesday, flagging risks to U.S. partners. Francisco Gomes Neto told reporters the tariffs would amount to a trade embargo on the regional jets it supplies to U.S. airlines and could trigger order cancellations, deferred deliveries and tough consequences for Embraer's U.S. suppliers. Sao Paulo-listed shares in Embraer, which had risen 3% earlier in the day, seesawed during his remarks, lost the gains before ticking back up 0.6%. They have fallen around 10% since Trump announced the tariffs, but are still up 33% so far this year. The U.S. is the main market for Embraer, the world's third-largest planemaker after Airbus ( opens new tab and Boeing (BA.N), opens new tab, with U.S. clients buying 45% of the firm's commercial airliners and 70% of its executive jets. Analysts had warned that the Brazilian planemaker would be one of the most affected by the tariffs. "Given the relevance of this market, we estimate that if this (tariff plan) moves on at this magnitude, we will have an impact similar to that of COVID-19 in terms of the decline in the company's revenue," Gomes Neto said. In 2020, when the pandemic ground air travel to a halt, Embraer's revenue plunged around 30% from the previous year. Gomes Neto emphasized that the tariffs would also hurt U.S. suppliers of components such as engines and avionics. "It's a lose-lose situation," he said. Aircraft are among the top U.S. imports from Brazil, along with oil, steel, coffee and orange juice. Embraer forecast the levies would generate an additional cost of around $9 million per airplane exported to the U.S., with potential impacts totaling around 2 billion reais ($360 million) this year. Shipments of E175 narrowbodies, a workhorse of U.S. regional aviation, would become "unfeasible" by the tariffs, Gomes Neto noted, adding that no order had been canceled so far. "It's a very new situation, so everyone is trying to understand this process and working toward reaching a solution within the deadline," the CEO said. In March, Embraer's E175 backlog included 90 firm orders from American Airlines (AAL.O), opens new tab, 40 from Republic, and 16 from SkyWest, which placed a fresh order in June for another 60 jets. ($1 = 5.56 reais)
Reuters
13 minutes ago
- Reuters
US auto safety nominee calls for active oversight of self-driving cars
WASHINGTON, July 15 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's nominee to head the nation's auto safety regulator will argue on Wednesday that the agency must actively oversee self-driving vehicle technology, a potential sign of a tougher approach than some critics expected. Jonathan Morrison, chief counsel of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in the first Trump administration, will testify to the U.S. Senate that autonomous vehicles offer potential benefits but also unique risks. "NHTSA cannot sit back and wait for problems to arise with such developing technologies, but must demonstrate strong leadership," Morrison said in written testimony seen by Reuters. The comments suggested NHTSA will continue to closely scrutinize self-driving vehicles. Some critics of the technology had expressed alarm over NHTSA staff cuts this year under a cost-cutting campaign led by Elon Musk, who was a close adviser to Trump and is CEO of self-driving automaker Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab. The Musk-Trump alliance prompted some critics to speculate that NHTSA would go easy on self-driving vehicle developers. But the relationship began to unravel in late May over Trump's spending plans, and the two are now locked in a feud. NHTSA said last month it was seeking information from Tesla about social media videos of robotaxis and self-driving cars Tesla was testing in Austin, Texas. The videos were alleged to show one of the vehicles using the wrong lane and another speeding. Since October, NHTSA has been investigating 2.4 million Tesla vehicles with full self-driving technology after four reported collisions, including a 2023 fatal crash. "The technical and policy challenges surrounding these new technologies must be addressed," Morrison's testimony said. "Failure to do so will result in products that the public will not accept and the agency will not tolerate." Other companies in the self-driving sector also were subjects of NHTSA investigations including Alphabet's (GOOGL.O), opens new tab Waymo, which last year faced reports its robotaxis may have broken traffic laws. Waymo in May recalled 1,200 self-driving vehicles, and the probe remains open. Regulatory scrutiny increased after 2023 when a pedestrian was seriously injured by a GM (GM.N), opens new tab Cruise self-driving car. The first recorded death of a pedestrian related to self-driving technology was in 2018 in Tempe, Arizona.
Telegraph
14 minutes ago
- Telegraph
This was too little, too late from the ‘iron' Chancellor
There will be a round of deregulation. Lending rules will be relaxed. And new listings will be accelerated. Rachel Reeves did everything she could in her Mansion House speech this evening to win back the City. From any other Chancellor it might have been greeted with loud applause. From this one, however, it will be dead on arrival. The relationship with finance is irretrievably broken – and is too late to win it back now. The bankers and brokers listening to Reeves this evening will like much of what she had to say. The relaxation of lending rules will be welcomed, even if it is questionable whether the British housing market needs yet more debt instead of more supply. Easing some red tape is always helpful, and something needs to be done to encourage more new listings. In reality, however, Labour's relationship with business is now broken beyond repair. When Reeves took office there was plenty of goodwill. Business was ready for a change of 14 years of a Conservative government that seemed more and more chaotic with every year that passed. She even had one or two ideas that sounded good, even if they were thin on detail. By now, however, the City feels completely betrayed. The assault on non-doms has driven wealthy clients out of the country, and many successful entrepreneurs as well, with nothing to replace them. The steep rise in employers' National Insurance has drained money out of companies, and hit profits and dividends. Her changes to inheritance tax have hammered not just farmers but every privately owned business, and many of those are still crucial to the economy. The extra employment rights might please the unions but they could be ruinous for the City. The list goes on and on. Business was told that Reeves was a pro-growth, pro-enterprise Chancellor. Instead she has led an assault on the private sector with no parallel in recent British history. It looks as if it will only get worse over the next year. We all know that there will be another huge round of tax rises in the autumn, and business may well bear the brunt of that. It could be higher business rates, a windfall tax on the banks or utilities, or even a 'temporary' surcharge on corporation tax, similar to the levy imposed in France earlier this year. Likewise, the plutocrats of the Square Mile are likely to be squeezed for extra tax revenue. We may well see a return of the 50 per cent top rate of tax. Or, even worse, a wealth tax, catastrophic for the City where £10 million is regarded as a respectable annual bonus, and not an obscene fortune to be taxed away. Sure, a few reforms are worth having. And it is good that Reeves recognises how crucial the City and financial services are to the British economy, even if many of the Left-wingers on her backbenchers won't agree with her. Finance has always been one of the key drivers of growth, as well as generating huge tax revenues. But the blunt truth is this. Reeves has lost the trust of the City. And no matter how hard she tries, it's surely gone forever.
