Aftermath of Trump tariff bombshell: winners and losers

US President Donald Trump holds a chart as he delivers remarks on reciprocal tariffs during a White House event called ‘Make America Wealthy Again’. Credit: Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images.

Heavy selling of Barclays (LSE:BARC) and HSBC Holdings (LSE:HSBA) has been offset by relief rallies for Diageo (LSE:DGE) and GSK (LSE:GSK) as FTSE 100 investors today digested the impact of Donald Trump’s Liberation Day tariffs.

London’s top flight stood 126 points lower at 8,482.43, a resilient showing compared with 2.5% losses in Europe and the Wall Street opening bell forecasts for falls of more than 3.5%. At an expected level of 5,500, the S&P is firmly in correction territory (down 10% from its high).

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The defensive qualities of the FTSE 100 were one factor in the outperformance as investors sought shelter in utilities including Severn Trent (LSE:SVT), the supermarket sector through Sainsbury (J) (LSE:SBRY)’s and Tesco (LSE:TSCO) and in telecoms via BT Group (LSE:BT.A) and Vodafone Group (LSE:VOD).

In a session of wide scale global selling, a third of the FTSE 100 found positive territory.

Their progress was more than offset by some significant fallers, reflecting the heavy impact of Trump’s tariffs on Asia economies and wider fears over the health of the US economy.

The White House proposals are likely to raise the weighted average tariffs on US imports from the 2.5% at the end of 2024 to 24%, levels not seen since the 1920s.

Preliminary estimates by UBS suggest that US GDP growth could fall to just 0.1% in the fourth quarter, down from 1.6% for the same quarter a year ago, and that the tariffs could add two percentage points to US inflation.

Source: TradingView. Past performance is not a guide to future performance.

The Swiss bank called the tariff shock unprecedented at the global level and said the dynamics in play were “extremely complicated”.

Capital Economics added: “The biggest shift is that investors are more concerned than before about the health of the US economy.

“And those worries are probably not just about the direct effects of tariffs (although those are important), but the uncertainty generated by the unpredictable way in which policy is being set.”

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This uncertainty left its mark on Barclays shares near the bottom of the FTSE 100, particularly given that its valuation has surged in recent months on the back of the bank’s US credit card lending and investment banking exposure.

The shares fell 17.45p to 279.3p, pushing the stock back where it was in early January.

The proposed tariffs also include a 34% rate on China and 24% on Japan, levies that triggered a 2.8% fall for the Nikkei 225 and 1.5% for the Hang Seng index before some heavy losses for stocks with Asia exposure in London.

The worst impacted in the FTSE 100 was Standard Chartered (LSE:STAN), which weakened 114p to 1,038.5p but still stands 50% higher than its level a year ago. HSBC also retreated 53.9p to 829.1p.

Commodity-focused stocks were impacted as fears of weaker demand caused the price of Brent crude to fall 4% to below $72 a barrel and depressed the price of several key metals.

BP (LSE:BP.) traded at a three-week low following a fall of 17p to 416.1p, Shell (LSE:SHEL) dropped 92.5p to 2,687.5p and Anglo American (LSE:AAL) slipped 109p to 2,041p.

The prospect of more heavy losses for Magnificent Seven stocks contributed to weakness for Polar Capital Technology Ord (LSE:PCT) and Scottish Mortgage Ord (LSE:SMT) investment trust. Other blue-chip fallers included business events organiser Informa (LSE:INF) and the credit checking firm Experian (LSE:EXPN).

On the risers' board, relief that pharmaceuticals are not subject to reciprocal tariffs helped the sector put back recent losses as GSK rallied 34.5p to 1468p and AstraZeneca (LSE:AZN) lifted 226p to 11,454p.

There was a similar bounce for Diageo, which added 43.5p at a three-week high of 2,090.5p.

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The domestic-led FTSE 250 fell 315.76 points to 19,333.87 but had been one of the best-performing benchmarks earlier in the session as investors eyed a potential competitive advantage due to the UK’s 10% baseline tariff over Europe’s 20%.

Stocks in demand included Oxford Nanopore Technologies (LSE:ONT) and the drinks firm AG Barr (LSE:BAG). Retailers also fared well after strong performances by Dunelm Group (LSE:DNLM) and B&M European Value Retail SA (LSE:BME).

Big fallers included Burberry Group (LSE:BRBY), with the luxury goods group back where it was in October amid concerns about how tariffs will impact demand from high spending customers in Asia.

Having surged from 580p to 1,235p between September and February, the former FTSE 100 company now trades near to 717p.

Capital Economics said: “What stands out is that Asia has been hit harder than most regions, with the 46% tariff on Vietnam one of the highest imposed on any country.

“Not only do Asian economies face higher tariffs than many others, they are also more dependent on US goods demand than most."

FTSE 250 investors with exposure to the Vietnam economy were badly hit after falls at VinaCapital Vietnam Opp Fund Ord (LSE:VOF) and Vietnam Enterprise Ord (LSE:VEIL).

The country had been the biggest beneficiary of production shifting away from China in response to the trade war started during Trump’s first term.

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The biggest fall in FTSE 250 was by Watches of Switzerland Group (LSE:WOSG), given that the Rolex and Cartier seller has built a significant presence in the US with 59 showrooms, and faces an additional currency headwind from today’s much weaker dollar.

Corporate merchandise firm 4imprint Group (LSE:FOUR), which generates 98% of its revenues in North America, fell 335p to its lowest level in more than two years at 3,460p.

The shares were 6,000p as recently as January, prior to a recent warning that tariffs may continue to influence demand after order intake declined in the first two months of 2025.