London close: FTSE 100 flat as markets stall on tariff turmoil

23rd Feb 2026 15:30

(Sharecast News) - UK stocks ended a choppy session where they started on Monday, with renewed concerns about trade tariffs weighing on risk appetite with markets already at record highs.

The FTSE 100 finished the day down just 2.15 points (-0.02%) at 10,684.74, having swung between gains and losses for most of the session. The index set a new all-time closing high of 10,686.89 on Friday.

Trump said over the weekend that he would introduce a new 15% tariff in response to the Supreme Court declaring his reciprocal tariffs imposed last year under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act as illegal. In a post on Truth Social, the US President said the new tariffs would be "effective immediately".

"The Supreme Court's decision last week to block President Trump's big emergency tariffs gave markets a quick lift, but his fast follow-up, has markets wobbly again today," said Kate Leaman, chief market analyst at AvaTrade.

Trump's move prompted EU lawmakers to postpone a planned vote on region's trade agreement with the US, while India cancelled a key trade mission to the States. The UK, meanwhile, said that no reciprocal action was "off the table", with the situation said to be "evolving".

"This isn't a permanent end to trade disputes. The workaround lasts a maximum of 150 days, after which Congress will weigh in. Investors should expect further ups and downs ahead," Leaman said.

Global equity markets mostly suffered as a result of the fresh uncertainty - benchmarks in Frankfurt and New York all dropped more than 1% each - while gold and silver prices surged 3% and 5.4% respectively as investors sought safe-haven assets.

The market reaction in London, however, was fairly mild, as the FTSE 100's exposure to the metals sectors provided some support.

JD Sports surges on buybacks

JD Sports surged to the top of the FTSE 100 after saying it was returning £200m to shareholders through share buybacks in its 2026/27 financial year.

Precious metals miner Fresnillo shone on the top-tied index as gold prices gained amid tariff uncertainty, while FTSE 250 peers Endeavour and Hochschild also benefitted.

Other heavyweight miners, including Antofagasta, Glencore and Anglo American, also rose.

ICG was down 5% following a Sky News report it is in talks to buy a stake in telecoms providers Southern Communications Group at a valuation of over £700m, while packaging group Smurfit WestRock was extending recent losses after recent comments from JPMorgan and reports that its top executives collectively sold €2.8m in shares.

FTSE 250 group Johnson Matthey tumbled 16% after saying it had agreed to cut almost half a billion pounds from the sale price of its catalyst technologies business to Honeywell after reports the American conglomerate was thinking about walking away from the deal.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 10,684.74 -0.02%

FTSE 250 (MCX) 23,528.79 -0.94%

techMARK (TASX) 6,080.73 -1.05%

FTSE 100 - Risers

JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 80.82p 3.38%

Fresnillo (FRES) 3,976.00p 3.17%

Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 406.90p 2.47%

Centrica (CNA) 192.60p 2.31%

Antofagasta (ANTO) 4,081.00p 2.23%

Imperial Brands (IMB) 3,300.00p 2.17%

Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (DI) (CCEP) 7,970.00p 2.05%

BT Group (BT.A) 206.50p 1.67%

Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 4,850.00p 1.59%

Unilever (ULVR) 5,462.00p 1.52%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Smurfit Westrock (DI) (SWR) 3,333.00p -8.51%

ICG (ICG) 1,653.00p -4.89%

Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 4,230.00p -4.47%

Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 8,620.00p -4.37%

The Sage Group (SGE) 783.60p -4.35%

Mondi (MNDI) 887.00p -4.25%

Whitbread (WTB) 2,621.00p -3.99%

Entain (ENT) 563.20p -3.13%

Relx plc (REL) 2,251.00p -3.06%

CRH (CDI) (CRH) 8,920.00p -2.81%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Endeavour Mining (EDV) 5,010.00p 6.37%

Pan African Resources (PAF) 178.40p 6.19%

Raspberry PI Holdings (RPI) 405.80p 6.06%

Hochschild Mining (HOC) 775.50p 5.30%

TBC Bank Group (TBCG) 4,830.00p 3.54%

Mony Group (MONY) 157.10p 2.75%

BlackRock World Mining Trust (BRWM) 1,002.00p 2.24%

Harworth Group (HWG) 170.00p 2.10%

Barr (A.G.) (BAG) 708.00p 1.72%

C&C Group (CDI) (CCR) 114.20p 1.60%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 1,927.00p -16.36%

Carnival (CCL) 2,236.00p -4.81%

Trustpilot Group (TRST) 135.20p -4.52%

Bridgepoint Group (Reg S) (BPT) 250.00p -4.43%

HarbourVest Global Private Equity Limited A Shs (HVPE) 2,995.00p -4.31%

Applied Nutrition (APN) 249.00p -4.23%

GB Group (GBG) 192.20p -3.90%

IG Group Holdings (IGG) 1,312.00p -3.67%

Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) 131.20p -3.53%

Future (FUTR) 411.00p -3.43%