The FTSE 100 continued its upward march on Wednesday, as corporate earnings helped lift the index despite lingering concerns about Trump’s tariffs.

London’s leading index rose about 20 points in early trade before the rally faded to trade just above flat at the time of writing.

Anyone who bought into the Trump tariff-induced sell-off is being handsomely rewarded. The FTSE 100 is now over 10% higher than its closing low record in the aftermath of Trump’s liberation day tariffs and more than 2% higher year-to-date in 2025.

“There’s a footloose feeling to the footsie, with the blue-chip index shrugging off global economic worries and heading higher on a winning streak,” said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets, Hargreaves Lansdown.

“It’s already clocked the best run since early 2017, and investors appear to have appetite for the defensive nature of the index, as they look set to tiptoe round more volatile US assets.”

London’s winning streak was further extended on Wednesday by another strong day of earnings for FTSE 100 companies, with Barclays, Taylor Wimpey, and GSK all giving investors reason to be optimistic.

Barclays

There was a lot to like about Barclays first quarter results. Profit before tax rose 19% to £2.72bn, smashing estimates of £2.49bn helped by strong investment performance. The bank also increased its 2025 net interest income to £12.5bn.

“Barclays has quite comfortably beaten expectations, after its investment banking arm cashed in on market volatility over the first quarter,” said Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown.

“In the main, trends across the portfolio look strong, from stable US credit card write-offs to low default levels on UK cards and loans. In fact, the only real sign that there could be an impending US or global recession was a slightly higher reserve build for its US consumer bank. If that wasn’t enough, management has raised guidance to add a confident cherry on top of the strong quarter – investors should be happy with what they’ve seen today.”

Barclays shares were 1.5% higher at the time of writing.

GSK provided a reassuringly strong set of Q1 results that helped shares rise over 1%.

Mark Crouch, market analyst at eToro, said: “GSK posted a Q1 earnings beat this morning, with rising profits and sales driven by continued growth in its Specialty Medicines division.”

A positive assessment of trading conditions by Taylor Wimpey and the reaffirmation of their competition guidance for 2025 helped the stock to marginal gains of 0.5% at the time of writing.

Natural Resource weakness

Upbeat reports from GSK, Barclays and Taylor Wimpey were offset by weakness in the natural resources stocks after Trump’s 100-day address to supporters overnight served as a reminder that the US President was seemingly hell bent on disrupting the world order.

Weak Chinese manufacturing data also added to the downside pressure on natural resources shares.

“Concerns about US tariffs are resurfacing, after a defiant Trump rallied his supporters, and a weaker than expected manufacturing update from China added to concerns about global growth prospects,” Streeter explained.

Glencore shares were at the FTSE 100 leaderboard at the time of writing having lost 3% of their value.

Taylor Wimpey has announced that its spring selling season progressed as expected, despite macroeconomic volatility and affordability challenges, particularly in southern England.

The housebuilder reported a net private sales rate of 0.77 per outlet per week for the year to 27 April 2025, slightly up from 0.74 in 2024.

The firm’s total order book value stood at £2,335 million, representing 8,153 homes—an increase from £2,093 million and 7,742 homes last year.

Taylor Wimpey maintains its high-quality landbank of approximately 78,000 plots alongside a strategic land pipeline of about 136,000 potential plots.

The company reiterated its full-year UK completions guidance of 10,400 to 10,800 homes and expects group operating profit to align with previous forecasts.

A final ordinary dividend of 4.66 pence per share is scheduled for payment on 9 May, subject to shareholder approval. This would equate to a return of 3.9% for the final Taylor Wimpey dividend alone, should the TW share price remain at 119p.

“The Spring selling season has progressed in line with expectations, with good levels of customer demand reflected in our sales rate,” said Jennie Daly, Chief Executive.

As a result, we are today reiterating our guidance for full year UK completions excluding JVs and Group operating profit¹*. Notwithstanding the wider macroeconomic backdrop, affordability is improving with lenders remaining committed to the housing market, albeit first time buyers continue to experience some challenges.

The Taylor Wimpey CEO continued to explain how the UK property market’s underlying demand dynamic will support growth for the group into the future.

“Looking ahead, we operate in an attractive market with significant underlying demand for new homes. With our strong, high-quality landbank, healthy balance sheet and highly experienced teams, Taylor Wimpey is set to deliver sustained growth and value for all our stakeholders.”

The FTSE 100 crept into positive territory in early trade on Tuesday before turning marginally negative as investors digested a raft of corporate earnings from several FTSE 100 heavyweights, including BP, HSBC, AstraZeneca and AB Foods.

The lull in damaging trade policy announcements and conflicting messaging from the White House has created a welcome opportunity for investors to refocus on company earnings.

Although the FTSE 100 rose in early trade, there was a note of caution evident in corporate updates on Tuesday, with HSBC increasing provisions for bad debts and BP reducing share buybacks.

In many respects, the soft results and evasive action by FTSE 100 companies announced on Tuesday are a reflection of the economic uncertainty the world faces as a result of Donald Trump’s trade policies.

HSBC’s increase in provision for bad debts indicates that it expects its customers to default at a significantly higher rate, while BP’s reduction in share buybacks demonstrates a degree of conservatism amid depressed oil prices and economic uncertainty.

FTSE 100 heavyweights: HSBC

Despite the rise in provision for bad debts, HSBC shares rose as the bank beat expectations and announced a fresh round of share buybacks.

“HSBC has kicked off the year with a bang, smashing past first-quarter expectations,” said Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown

“A big part of that outperformance came from strong fee income in areas like currency trading and wealth management – two bright spots that helped support a solid showing from its more traditional banking operations. The numbers are a bit noisy thanks to the sales of its Canadian and Argentinian businesses, which makes year-on-year comparisons a little tricky. But strip out the noise, and the underlying performance looks strong.”

HSBC said it would kick off a fresh round of share buybacks totalling up to $3bn.

While the all-important share buyback helped HSBC share shake off any concerns about their loan book, BP shares suffered after the oil major slashed its buybacks amid ongoing questions about its strategy.

“BP’s making the best it can of a sticky situation,” explained Derren Nathan, head of equity research, Hargreaves Lansdown.

“Improved performance in it’s troubled refineries as well as action taken on central costs has helped eke out an improvement in profitability over the fourth quarter.

“But the difficult backdrop means the bottom line is still a far cry from where it was a year previously. Cash flow is under pressure too and that’s allowed net debt to creep up further. This is a key consideration for activist shareholder Elliott Investment Management and there could be further calls to cut costs and offload non-core parts of the business. This year’s disposals target has been upped slightly, from around $3bn to a range of $3-4bn, but that’s not really going to move the dial.”

AB Foods was the FTSE 100’s top faller, sinking over 8%, as sugar prices rocked their food business and Primark showed further signs of a slowdown.

“There is not much to celebrate in these results from AB Foods,” said Wealth Club’s Charlie Huggins.

The outlook in the Sugar business has worsened, primarily due to lower European sugar prices and an operating loss in Vivergo, the UK bioethanol business. Actions are being taken to turn these businesses around. However, the group warns that a return to profitability is likely to take longer than expected.

“Primark’s sales performance in the UK and Ireland also continues to disappoint. Like-for-like sales fell by 6%, worse than competitors, meaning Primark lost market share in the period. The recent resignation of Primark’s CEO Paul Marchant due to inappropriate behaviour casts further uncertainty and raises question marks around Primark’s culture.”

AstraZeneca

AstraZeneca shares fell over 3% after releasing fairly strong earnings and profit growth in the first quarter of 2025. However, the update served as a reminder that the group was at risk of Trump’s trade policies which have cloudied Astra’s outlook.

“Overall AstraZeneca has demonstrated it’s a calm port in a storm, despite concerns about the impact on business going forward, if the pharma sector is hit by US tariffs,” explained Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets, Hargreaves Lansdown

“The company has recommitted to its expansion plans in the US, which includes increasing the company’s research and manufacturing footprint by the end of 2026.”

Howden Joinery was the FTSE 100 top rising with a 6% gain, helping to offset losses elsewhere in the index.