Barclays and HSBC shares jump after Trump’s legal blow
Shares in FTSE 100 banking giants rallied on Thursday after President Donald Trump’s tariff agenda was dealt a blow from the courts.
Barclays and HSBC climbed over one per cent to 328.05p and 874.50p, while Standard Chartered jumped nearly two per cent to 1,158.00p.
This came as the US Court of International Trade declared Trump’s sweeping tariffs “invalid”.
The ruling came in response to cases brought forward by US businesses and a handful of states. It found Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ levies “exceed any authority granted to the President… to regulate importation by means of tariffs”.
The judgment is set to throw a spanner into Trump’s trade agenda and complicate his ability to disrupt global trade.
The FTSE 100 was up 18 points as markets opened to the news, but quickly reversed gains, trading broadly flat.
Tariffs battered banking stocks
HSBC, Barclays and Standard Chartered each have exposure to the geopolitical climate and suffered major losses in the fallout of Trump’s levies.
HSBC is one of the largest international banks in Asia, with its origins tracing back to Hong Kong and Shanghai. Standard Chartered’s operations take a large focus on emerging markets across Asia, Africa and the Middle East and Barclays is skewed towards geopolitical movements due to its significant investment bank operations.
In the wake of Trump’s tariff announcement, Standard Chartered was the FTSE 100’s top faller at over seven per cent. HSBC sank over five and Barclays more than four per cent.
Trump’s retreat on his trade offensive helped fuel a recovery for London markets but his relentless attacks on Asian geographies continued to hurt the three bank’s stocks.
Standard Chartered still trades significantly below its year-high of 1,269p and HSBC has tumbled from its all-time high of 942.50p reached in March.
But Barclays has managed to roar past its pre-tariff high of 309.25. Shares are up over 24 per cent in the last six months.