Closing summary
Wall Street stocks have risen, at the start of a week of big tech earnings and a closely watched US Federal Reserve policy decision (no change in interest rates is expected).
The Dow Jones rose by more than 200 points, or 0.45%, the S&P 500 gained 27 points, up 0.4%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed more than 50 points, or 0.2%.
Gold and silver hit new record highs, with gold rising above $5,100 an ounce, boosting US-listed shares of gold miners such as Gold Fields, Harmony Gold and Newmont.
In London, miners are leading gains on the FTSE 100 index, such as Fresnillo, Antofagasta, Endeavour Mining, Anglo American and Rio Tinto. The index has risen 0.37% or 37 points, to 10,180.
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Thank you for reading. We’ll be back tomorrow. Take care! – JK
Updated
Tim Reid, chief executive of UK Export Finance – the state-owned credit agency in charge of the loan guarantee scheme – told the Guardian that the loan package was not devised in direct response to Trump’s tariff threats.
However, he acknowledged that some firms would appreciate extra financing during a period of political upheaval.
There’s been significant news around tariffs and [we] can support business where they have potential impacts or concerns.
This is about making sure that we can support UK businesses, doing business all around the world.
Reid highlighted that UKEF has been working to boost exports through numerous crises, having been operating for more than 100 years. The agency was established in 1919 to help firms hit by the submarine blockade after the first world war.
A century later, UKEF mobilised to get £7.3bn of government-backed loans and financial support to companies such as Nissan, easyJet and British Airways whose revenues were upended by supply chain disruptions during the Covid pandemic. The government says the move secured up to 71,000 UK jobs.
Those efforts have helped the agency shake off bad press from a spate of scandals, with UKEF having been dragged into the high-profile Airbus bribery scandal that was still making headlines in 2020, and a separate judicial review over UKEF’s investment in a gas project in Mozambique.
