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London’s FTSE 100 added 0.12% in Thursday’s closing trade after US President Donald Trump withdrew plans to impose additional tariffs from Feb. 1.
Trump dropped his tariff threat on European countries that opposed his plans to take control of Greenland, noting that a framework for a future deal was reached in a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. “So, while it’s not yet clear exactly what concessions the US will be getting, these appear to have been markedly scaled back compared to Trump’s recent demands for ‘complete and total control’ of Greenland,” said Deutsche Bank Research.
On the economic front, the UK public sector net borrowing, excluding public sector banks, increased to 11.58 billion pounds sterling in December 2025, from the revised 10.94 billion pounds earlier, according to data from the Office for National Statistics. Analysts expected 13.4 billion pounds for the month.
In corporate news, B&M European Value Retail (BME.L) recovered from earlier losses in the session to close 0.58% in the green after the variety goods value retailer downgraded its fiscal 2026 expectations for group adjusted EBITDA to between 440 million pounds and 475 million pounds, from its previous guidance of 470 million pounds to 520 million pounds.
“To drive a higher rating we think [B&M] needs to regain credibility by showing an improved [like-for-like] sales trend, without further cuts to profit guidance, and demonstrate that it remains cash generative, thus giving it capacity to buy back its own shares,” said RBC Capital Markets.
Meanwhile, food processing and retailing company Associated British Foods (ABF.L) climbed 1.29% after revenue rose year over year in the 16 weeks ended Jan. 3 to 6.76 billion pounds from 6.73 billion pounds.