BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - U.K. stocks are down in negative territory on Friday, weighed down by trade concerns after U.S. President Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs on several countries. The President's letters to 17 major pharma firms, urging them to cut prices, has triggered a sell-off in the pharmaceutical sector.
The U.S. slapped dozens of trading partners with steep tariffs, ranging from 10 to 41%.
India, Brazil and Canada faced steep tariffs as Trump pushes to rebalance deficits and protect American manufacturing, citing national security.
A 25 percent duty was imposed on Indian goods along with a penalty for Russian imports that could dent India's economic growth by 30 bps in FY26.
Investors are also digesting the latest batch of earnings updates and economic reports.
The benchmark FTSE, which dropped to 9,058.90 earlier in the session, is down 50.05 points or 0.55% at 9,082.76 nearly half an hour past noon.
Intertek Group is down nearly 8% with forex headwinds overshadowing the company's solid first-half performance. The company reported a 16.5% jump in EBITA at £276 million.
Rentokil Initial and Weir Group are down 4.7% and 4.4%, respectively. AstraZeneca is down more than 3%.
Anglo American Plc, Scottish Mortgage, Pershing Square Holdings, Segro, Schroders, ICG, RightMove, Taylor Wimpey, Babcock International and Barclays Group are down 2 to 3%.
IAG is notably lower despite reporting consensus-beating operating profit growth for the second quarter.
Melrose Industries climbed more than 6% after reporting operating profit of 310 million pounds for the six months ended June 30, 2025, up 18% compared with 247 million pounds in the year-ago period.
Pearson is rising 5.3%. The education company's first-half underlying sales and adjusted operating profit topped forecasts.
Unilever, British American Tobacco, Haleon, Mondi, Endeavour Mining, United Utilities and Airtel Africa are gaining 0.7 to 2%.
A report from Nationwide Building Society said UK house prices grew at a faster pace in July reflecting steadily improving housing affordability and moderate fall in mortgage rates.
House prices increased 2.4% on a yearly basis in July, following June's 2.1% increase. Prices were expected to climb at a steady pace of 2.1% in July.
On a monthly basis, house prices grew 0.6%, in contrast to the 0.9% decrease in June.
Data from S&P Global showed the S&P Global UK Manufacturing PMI rose to 48 in July from 47.7 in June, revised lower from the flash estimate of 48.2. While the sector remained in contraction, the latest reading signaled the mildest decline in business conditions since January amid the softest contraction in output in nine months.
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