Early market roundup: FTSE 100 up; housebuilders down on legal action

Stock prices in London were mostly higher on Tuesday morning while housebuilders' shares fell amid legal action news; meanwhile UK economic growth for 2025 was revised down.

The FTSE 100 index opened up 30.38 points, 0.3%, at 10,514.60. The FTSE 250 was up 8.21 points at 23,023.06, and the AIM all-share was up 1.02 points, 0.1%, at 771.13.

The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.3% at 1,044.44, the Cboe UK 250 was down 0.1% at 19,742.05, and the Cboe small companies was up 0.2% at 18,157.59.

In European equities on Tuesday, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.4%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was 0.9% higher.

Sterling was at USD1.3238 on Tuesday morning, down from USD1.3247 at the London equities close on Monday. Against the euro, sterling rose to EUR1.1604 from EUR1.1597.

The euro was lower at USD1.1402 from USD1.1422. Against the yen, the dollar advanced to JPY162.20 from JPY161.93.

UK real gross domestic product increased by an unrevised 0.6% in the first quarter, according to data from the Office for National Statistics.

UK gross domestic product rose 0.6% in the three months to March, unchanged from the previous estimate, accelerating from growth of 0.1% in the fourth quarter of 2025, the latter revised down from 0.2%.

In output terms, the ONS said growth in the latest quarter was caused by an increase in all three sectors, with the largest contribution from the services sector, which grew by 0.8%.

On-year GDP growth was revised lower for the first quarter to 0.9% from 1.1%.

On an annual basis, GDP growth in 2025 was revised down to 1.3% from 1.4% previously, following unrevised growth of 1.0% in 2024.

Real household disposable income per head fell by 0.8% in the first quarter, following a 1.2% rise in the fourth quarter.

Trade data released alongside the GDP figures showed the UK current account deficit, including trade in precious metals, narrowed by £5.04 billion to £22.13 billion, or 2.8% of GDP, in the first quarter.

This was a larger deficit than the FXStreet-cited consensus, which expected a first quarter deficit of £21.5 billion.

"Strong growth in Q1 was helped by front-running of supply disruptions from the Middle East and a bounceback from Budget uncertainty, but underlying growth is solid," said Pantheon Macroeconomics analyst Rob Wood.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said Iran has requested a meeting that will be held Tuesday in Qatar, despite Tehran denying any direct negotiations were planned with Washington on the deal aimed at ending the Middle East war.

The announcement came after Iran held its first talks with Oman on managing the Strait of Hormuz since the US-Iran deal was signed, and as Washington and Tehran agreed to halt their attacks, which had strained the agreement.

"IRAN HAS REQUESTED A MEETING. IT WILL TAKE PLACE TOMORROW IN DOHA!" Trump posted on his Truth Social platform, without specifying the participants.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei on Monday said a delegation of the country's own experts would travel to Doha this week, but staunchly denied any sit-down with the Americans.

Brent crude was trading higher at USD73.49 a barrel on Tuesday morning from USD72.85 on Monday.

In Asia on Tuesday, the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo was up 0.9%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was 0.5% higher, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong lost 0.5%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney fell 0.5%.

In the US on Monday, Wall Street ended higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.6%, while the S&P 500 ended 1.2% higher and the Nasdaq Composite gained 2.1%.

The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 4.37% on Tuesday morning, slimmed slightly from 4.39% on Monday. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury was unchanged at 4.86%.

Back in London, shares in J Sainsbury were up 2.3% as it backed its guidance for the 2027 financial year despite uncertainty from the conflict in the Middle East, as it reported higher sales in the first quarter.

The London-based food retailer said total retail sales, excluding fuel, rose 2.7% on-year in the 16 weeks to June 20 to £9.15 billion. Like-for-like sales, excluding fuel, were up 2.1%. Sales in the Sainsbury's brand climbed 3.1% to £8.04 billion, while Argos sales fell 0.5% to £1.11 billion.

The firm added that it has made an "encouraging" start to the year, but warns that the impact of the conflict in the Middle East remains uncertain.

It continues to expect to report total underlying operating profit between £975 million and £1.08 billion for financial 2027, with Retail free cash flow of more than £500 million.

UK housebuilding stocks were lower, as legal action that could seek to secure up to £4.5 billion in compensation added to their woes.

Mark McLaren – a former parliamentary and legal affairs manager at consumer group Which? – is planning to bring a class action claim against Barratt Redrow, Bellway, Berkeley Group, Bloor Homes, Persimmon, Taylor Wimpey, Vistry Group and its Countryside Partnerships division over allegations that consumers had to pay higher prices for new-build properties due to alleged anti-competitive behaviour by the firms.

It is being launched on behalf of more than 700,000 people who bought new build homes in Great Britain between October 2015 and June 24 this year.

The action – which is now going to the Competition Appeal Tribunal in order to get the go ahead – follows an investigation by the Competition & Markets Authority into whether the housebuilders shared commercially sensitive information for two years until February 2024.

On the FTSE 100 index, shares in Barratt Redrow fell 3.3% and Persimmon was 3.1% lower. On the FTSE 250 index, Taylor Wimpey was down 2.2%, Bellway lost 2.1%, Vistry retreated 1.9% and Berkeley fell 1.8%.

Shares in International Workplace Group gained 4.0% as it increased its share buyback programme by USD50 million, taking the programme up to USD150 million.

The Zug, Switzerland-based provider of hybrid workspaces announced the first tranche on December 31, 2025 and a second on March 3.

On the AIM market, shares in Celsius Resources surged 45%.

The firm said it has sold its 95% interest in the Opuwo cobalt-copper project in Namibia to a subsidiary of Aluminum Corporation of China, or Chinalco, for USD15 million.

"The divestment of the Opuwo project will enable Celsius to increase its focus on its Philippine portfolio of copper-gold projects and provide a material source of near-term funding," the firm said.

Gold was slightly higher at USD4,029.36 an ounce early on Tuesday from USD4,023.68 late Monday.

Still to come on Tuesday's economic calendar is inflation data for Germany, plus US Jolts figures, as well as data from the US house price index and the Chicago purchasing managers' index.

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