Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks on the phone to U.S. President Donald Trump at a car factory in the West Midlands, Britain, Thursday, May 8, 2025.<\/p>\n
Alberto Pezzali | Via Reuters<\/p>\n
The U.K. is the first country to seal a trade deal with the U.S. Cue the jubilations. And investors certainly did, giving the three major U.S. indexes back-to-back winning sessions. Curiously, the mood across the Atlantic wasn’t as upbeat: the U.K.’s FTSE 100 closed lower following the announcement of the agreement.<\/p>\n
To be sure, the U.K. extracted some concessions, such as a lower tariff rate on its first 100,000 vehicles exported to the U.S. and securing new discussions for U.S. President Donald Trump’s universal 25% levies on steel and aluminum imports<\/a>.<\/p>\n That said, the deal does seem more advantageous to the U.S., at least based on the fact that a 10% tariff will remain on all U.K. imports, alongside other compromises allowed by Britain.<\/p>\n The U.S. already runs a trade surplus with the U.K., meaning that it exports more to the country than it imports. And a 10% tariff was what Trump slapped on the U.K. on April 2, so there was no reduction in those levies despite both countries reaching an agreement.<\/p>\n “What we heard today is just noise for most U.K. imports. It doesn’t affect the majority of products,” Andy Abbott, CEO of niche ocean liner company Atlantic Container Line, told CNBC’s Lori Ann LaRocco.<\/p>\n Based on the available details, Washington seems to have got the better end of the deal.<\/p>\n What you need to know today<\/p>\n UK takes lead: strikes a deal with U.S. Most markets rally on trade deal news<\/strong> Britain’s central bank lowers rates<\/strong> Coinbase misses estimates as bitcoin jumps<\/strong> First American pope elected<\/strong> [PRO] Trade deal only a temporary stimulus?
<\/strong>U.S. President\u00a0Donald Trump\u00a0on Thursday laid out the outline of a\u00a0trade\u00a0agreement with the\u00a0United Kingdom<\/a>. Many specifics about the deal were not immediately clear, and nothing was signed during the Oval Office event. A White House fact sheet stated that the U.S. will keep a blanket 10% tariff on U.K. imports, which Trump said will be floor for tariffs<\/a>. The impact of the deal could be limited<\/a>, a freight CEO said.<\/p>\n
U.S. stocks climbed Thursday<\/a> on news of the freshly minted U.S.-U.K. agreement. The S&P 500<\/a> added 0.58%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average<\/a> gained 0.62% and the Nasdaq Composite<\/a> advanced 1.07%, boosted by a broad rise in tech shares. The pan-European Stoxx 600<\/a> index rose 0.4%. The U.K.’s FTSE 100<\/a> dropped 0.32%, giving up earlier gains<\/a> as the country and the U.S. announced a trade deal and its central bank cut interest rates.<\/p>\n
The Bank of England on Thursday cut interest rates to 4.25% from 4.5%<\/a>. The cut had been widely expected, especially after a slowdown in price rises, with annual inflation cooling to\u00a02.6% in March<\/a>, down from 2.8% the previous month. Five of the BOE’s nine policymakers voted for the cut, with two members wanting a larger 50-basis-point reduction, and two wanting to keep rates on hold.<\/p>\n
Coinbase<\/a> shares fell nearly 3% in extended trading after it reported first-quarter revenue that failed to meet expectations<\/a>. The company said consumer trading volume fell 17% from the fourth quarter. The same day, bitcoin<\/a> prices rose almost 7% to above $100,000 for the first time since February<\/a>, and a Standard Chartered analyst wrote a tongue-in-cheek apology that his target of $120,000 for bitcoin<\/a> “may be too low.”<\/p>\n
Cardinal\u00a0Robert Francis Prevost\u00a0was elected as\u00a0pope<\/a>\u00a0on Thursday, the first time an\u00a0American\u00a0has been selected as pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church. Prevost, 69, chose the papal name Leo XIV. Following the news, Trump congratulated the new pope<\/a>, writing on Truth Social<\/a> that Leo being the “first American Pope” is “a Great Honor for our Country.”<\/p>\n
<\/strong>Even though investors cheered the U.S.-U.K. trade deal and sent stocks higher Thursday, CNBC Pro contributor Josh Brown, CEO of\u00a0Ritzholtz Wealth Management, is keeping his expectations of a prolonged market rebound<\/a> in check \u2014 and points out two defensive tech stocks because they behave more like consumer staples.<\/p>\n