FTSE 100 makes further gains as Wall Street rebounds

London stocks continued their recent recovery on Tuesday, amid strong sessions for retailers and commodity firms.

The FTSE 100 restarted how it left following the Easter break, another session of steady gains as it benefited from a further cool-down in concerns over the potential impact of US tariffs.

Nevertheless, it came as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned on Tuesday that global economies are set for slower growth due to trade disruption and unprecedented uncertainty linked to the tariff plans.

The FTSE 100 finished up by 0.64%, or 52.94 points, to close at 8,328.6. It marked its strongest closing level for more than two weeks.

Elsewhere in Europe, the other main markets were cautious throughout the session but turned higher in afternoon trading after positivity on Wall Street.

The Cac 40 ended 0.56% higher for the day and the Dax index was up 0.34%.

In the US, the Dow Jones opened firmly higher in a bid to recover from its sell-off in the previous session, with traders shrugging off President Donald Trump’s criticisms of the Federal Reserve and its chairman, Jerome Powell.

Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG, said: “Looking at today’s rebound for equities, you might be forgiven for thinking that financial markets have forgotten all about Trump’s threats to fire Powell.

“Volatility on both up and down days is a given right now, but Tesla’s earnings tonight could well determine the near-term direction.

“In the short-term, the path of least resistance seems to point higher, especially since the real impact of tariffs is unlikely to show up in this quarter’s round of reports.”

Meanwhile, sterling stabilised at its highest level against the dollar for about six months.

The pound was flat at 1.338 US dollars but was up 0.41% at 1.166 euros when London’s markets closed.

In company news, DCC dropped in value after the business services firm agreed the sale of its healthcare arm in a deal valuing the division at more than £1 billion.

London-listed DCC, which has its headquarters in Dublin, is set to sell the business to HealthCo Investment – a subsidiary of Investindustrial Advisors – for £1.05 billion as part of efforts to focus on its energy business.

Shares in DCC slipped by 4.5% to 4,754p as shareholders digested the deal.

Shares in Antofagasta were higher on Tuesday after reports that activist investor Elliott has disclosed a short position against the company.

It comes amid a recent dip in the firm’s share value due to investor unease over the potential impact of US tariff plans and trade disruptions.

Shares in Antofagasta closed up 1.7% at 1,565p.

ITM Power shares rose by 7.4% to 31p after the green hydrogen specialist told shareholders it is on track for higher than previously expected revenues after being boosted by extra contracts.

Elsewhere, the price of a barrel of Brent crude oil was up by 2.2% to 67.72 dollars (£50.65) as markets were closing in London.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Bunzl, up 82p to 2,370p, Experian, up 87p to 3,532p, Vodafone, up 1.72p to 72.2p, Sainsbury’s, up 5.8p to 262.6p, and Aviva, up 11.6p to 538.2p.

The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were DCC, down 226p to 4,754p, Rentokil, down 7.2p to 342.8p, Polar Capital Technology Trust, down 4.5p to 266.5p, Diploma, down 60p to 3,786p, and Pershing Square, down 52p to 3,362p.