After the heavy selling we saw last week, European stock markets have staged a recovery, with nearly all the main indices rising by more than 2%.The exemption for smartphones, laptops and other electronic devices from US tariffs on Chinese imports, announced on Friday, has brought some much-needed cheer to markets.However, Donald Trump and US officials have said that the exclusion could be short-lived.UK’s FTSE 100 index up 151 points, or 1.9%, at 8,115Germany’s Dax up 559 points, or 2.

75%, at 20,936France’s CAC up 176 points, or 2.5%, at 7,281Italy’s FTSE MiB up 922 points, or 2.7%, at 34,951US stocks are also set for a rally when Wall Street opens in a few minutes, with S&P 500 futures rising by 2.1% in pre-market trading.It ended last week at 5,363.

The US dollar has recovered some ground but is still trading 0,2% lower against a basket of major currencies,It is down by 0,4% against sterling,Gold has lost 1.

2% to $3,196 an ounce, as tariff fears receded, for now.It hit another record high earlier amid a dash for safe haven assets.In the oil markets, Brent crude and US crude – the two global benchmarks – have both advanced 1.1%, to $65.44 and $62.

15 a barrel respectively,Oil prices have been boosted by the easing of tariff fears, and Chinese data showing a sharp rebound in crude imports in March, but gains were limited by concerns that the trade war between the US and China could weaken world growth and dent demand for crude,The oil cartel Opec has cut its 2025 forecast for growth in global oil demand for the first time since December, partially due to the impact of US trade tariffs,In its monthly report, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries estimated world oil demand will rise by 1,3m barrels a day this year and by 1.

28m barrels a day next year.Both forecasts are down by 150,000 barrels a day from last month’s figures.Global stock markets are rallying, with nearly all the main European indices rising by more than 2%, led by Germany’s Dax with a 2.7% jump, while the UK’s FTSE 100 index is 1.8% ahead at 8,107, a gain of 142 points.

Asian shares also rose, posting more modest gains.On Wall Street, the Nasdaq is leading gains with a 2.37% jump after the opening bell.The exemption for smartphones, laptops and other electronic devices from US tariffs on Chinese imports, announced on Friday, has brought some much-needed cheer to markets.However, Donald Trump and US officials have said that the exclusion could be short-lived.

In the UK, government officials and trade unions are scrambling to keep British Steel’s two furnaces at Scunthorpe burning,You can follow the latest on British Steel on our politics live blog here:Our main stories today:Wall Street has opened higher,The S&P 500 gained 95 points, or 1,78%, to 5,458 at the open, while the Dow Jones rose by 511 points, or 1,27%, to 40,723 and the Nasdaq added 399 points, or 2.

39%, to 17,123.The UN’s trade and development arm, Unctad, is calling on Donald Trump to exempt the world’s poorest and smallest countries from “reciprocal” tariffs, or risk “serious economic harm”.In a report published on Monday, Unctad identifies 28 nations the US president singled out for a higher tariff rate than the 10% baseline – despite each accounting for less than 0.1% of the US trade deficit.These include Laos, which is expected to face a 48% tariff; Mauritius, on 40%; and Myanmar, to be hit with 45%, despite trying to recover from a devastating earthquake.

The White House shocked many developing countries with the punitive tariff rates announced this month.The European Commission is reportedly handing burner phones and basic laptops to some staff who are going to the US to avoid the risk of espionage, a measure traditionally reserved for trips to China.Commissioners and senior officials travelling to the IMF and World Bank spring meetings next week have been given the new guidance, the Financial Times reported.They said the measures replicate those used on trips to Ukraine and China, where standard IT kit cannot be brought into the countries for fear of Russian or Chinese surveillance.“They are worried about the US getting into the commission systems,” said one official.

After the heavy selling we saw last week, European stock markets have staged a recovery, with nearly all the main indices rising by more than 2%.The exemption for smartphones, laptops and other electronic devices from US tariffs on Chinese imports, announced on Friday, has brought some much-needed cheer to markets.However, Donald Trump and US officials have said that the exclusion could be short-lived.UK’s FTSE 100 index up 151 points, or 1.9%, at 8,115Germany’s Dax up 559 points, or 2.

75%, at 20,936France’s CAC up 176 points, or 2.5%, at 7,281Italy’s FTSE MiB up 922 points, or 2.7%, at 34,951US stocks are also set for a rally when Wall Street opens in a few minutes, with S&P 500 futures rising by 2.1% in pre-market trading.It ended last week at 5,363.

The US dollar has recovered some ground but is still trading 0.2% lower against a basket of major currencies.It is down by 0.4% against sterling.Gold has lost 1.

2% to $3,196 an ounce, as tariff fears receded, for now,It hit another record high earlier amid a dash for safe haven assets,In the oil markets, Brent crude and US crude – the two global benchmarks – have both advanced 1,1%, to $65,44 and $62.

15 a barrel respectively.Oil prices have been boosted by the easing of tariff fears, and Chinese data showing a sharp rebound in crude imports in March, but gains were limited by concerns that the trade war between the US and China could weaken world growth and dent demand for crude.The oil cartel Opec has cut its 2025 forecast for growth in global oil demand for the first time since December, partially due to the impact of US trade tariffs.In its monthly report, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries estimated world oil demand will rise by 1.3m barrels a day this year and by 1.

28m barrels a day next year,Both forecasts are down by 150,000 barrels a day from last month’s figures,Interesting thread on British Steel on X, from Jess Ralston, head of energy at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit,🚨Some major errors & misleading claims from @bbcnickrobinson on @BBCr4today this morning, when discussing British Steel with Treasury Minister James MurrayI hope these are corrected on tomorrow's programme,Here's what he got wrong.

..🧵https://t.co/7EF11CUQmF1) "Why don’t we produce the coke that you need to build steel?"The coke from the Cumbria coal mine would contain too much sulphur for British Steel to use on its own; we'd have to import anyway.& the mine operator states 85% of coal would be exported.

https://t.co/vcZUY4WORE2) "Why do you ban that under green legislation?"No legislation currently exists which bans coal production in the UK.The Government has stated it intends to bring forward legislation to ban new coal mines, but this has not yet happened.https://t.co/GLzBhTVZBS3) "What you call green energy [is] driving those prices up, and making it unsustainable to produce steel"Wrong.

UK Steel says: "The main driver of the price disparity is now wholesale electricity costs, driven by the UK’s reliance on natural gas power"https://t,co/KZJfviAj044) "Environmental regulations make it [steel] expensive and force us to import it from China"This is inaccurate,Gas sets the wholesale electricity price 98% of the time, which is what drives costs for heavy industry - not "environmental regulations",https://t,co/CUpkxptHNa pic.

twitter.com/HYu5opqU8TIn fact, a recent UK Steel report shows that 'policy costs', which is what some commentators (often misleadingly) attribute as 'net zero costs'are LOWER in the UK compared to France and Germany.https://t.co/KZJfviAj04 pic.twitter.

com/ZFMQLZkL6VRobinson isn't the only one to incorrectly blame net zero for steel industry chaosLack of industrial strategy & high gas prices, which remain volatile, are the final strawRobinson should focus on this, not try to be sensationalist about new coal mines, which are a red herringGoldman Sachs has reported its best-ever quarter for equities trading as the bank benefited from market turmoil triggered by Donald Trump’s return to the Oval Office.The Wall Street bank reported record revenues from its equity division in the first quarter, after rising by 27% compared to a year earlier to $4.2bn.Its fixed income, currency and commodities division, which deals with bond and foreign exchange trading, also rose about 2% year-on-year, but experienced a 61% jump compared to the final three months of 2024, to $4.4bn - as the uncertainty and turmoil sparked by Trump’s second presidential term sparked a flurry of transactions.

Overall, it helped push pre-tax profits up 8% in the first quarter compared to the same period last year, to $5.6bn.But there are now concerns that the uncertainty and market volatility will lead to significant delays in IPOs, and spook firms from taking out new loans or taking part in fresh M&A - in moves that could ultimately hit investment banking revenues for lenders like Goldman.Goldman’s CEO David Solomon stopped short of naming the wave of tariffs launched at the start of the month, just after the Q1 cut-off, but said:We are entering the second quarter with a markedly different operating environment than earlier this year…UK water companies face a levy to fund enforcement work by regulators under new proposals, as the water minister vowed to make polluters “pay for the damage they cause to our waterways”.The consultation, which runs until 26 May, proposes a new levy to raise on certain water discharge activities (i.

e.sewage spills) and is designed to recover costs associated with the Environment Agency’s enforcement work directly from water companies.The new charging scheme will be finalised and implemented this summer.Alan Lovell, chair of the Environment Agency, said:The Water (Special Measures) Act was a crucial step in making sure water companies take full responsibility for their impact on the environment.The increased regulatory powers introduced by this legislation, including cost recovery for our enforcement work, will allow us to close the justice gap, deliver swifter enforcement action and ultimately deter illegal activity.

Alongside these reforms, we are undertaking the biggest ever transformation to the way we regulate the water industry.By investing in people, training and digital assets, we are ensuring water companies better meet the needs of both people and the environment, now and in the future.Water minister Emma Hardy said: We promised that polluters would pay for the damage they cause to our waterways.That’s why we’re making sure water companies – not regulators – bear the cost of enforcement action taken in response to their failings.Through the Water (Special Measures) Act water bosses could face imprisonment for lawbreaking and regulators now have new powers to ban undeserved bonuses and bring automatic and severe penalties against polluters