FTSE 100 sees best winning streak in two years as trade war fears abate
The FTSE 100 finished in the green on Tuesday for the seventh consecutive day, notching its best run of gains in two years as investor worries over protracted trade wars began to soften.
London’s blue-chip index closed on a 0.64 per cent gain at 8328.60.
Distribution firm Bunzl ended trading as one of the top risers at 3.58 per cent, despite the stock’s slide earlier in the session after posting a weak first quarter.
Of the fallers, DCC lost 4.54 per cent after selling its health care division for £1.1bn.
The index’s rally over the last week reversed some losses suffered in the wake of Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ which saw it reach lows of 7679.48.
The FTSE 250 closed off 0.06 per cent.
Elsewhere, Germany’s Dax rose 0.34 per cent and France’s Cac 40 0.56 per cent.
On Wall Street stocks surged on Tuesday, erasing Monday’s losses after it emerged US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told some investors a tariff standoff with China was likely to de-escalate.
The S&P 500 and Dow Jones soared over two per cent. The tech-heavy Nasdaq was up nearly 2.5 per cent.
Shares in Elon Musk’s Tesla rose nearly five per cent ahead of the EV firm’s first-quarter results due after market close.
But, as global markets scraped back gains, a full recovery remained distant.
The FTSE 100 was down 3.5 per cent over the last month, while the road to recovery was steeper for Wall Street, with the S&P and Dow Jones down over eight per cent and Nasdaq over ten per cent.
Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “Markets are now itching for real progress on trade deals – posts from the President on Truth Social or X just aren’t cutting the mustard anymore.
“Investors want ink on paper, not just words, as a clear signal that movement is happening – and the clock is ticking.”
Meanwhile, the pound was on the brink of hitting an 11th consecutive day of gains.
This would mark sterling’s longest streak since January 1971 – when the currency was decimalised.
The pound floated around $1.34 against the dollar as stock markets closed – an increase of around 0.04 per cent. This was up from $1.25 at the start of the year.