Yahoo Finance

That's all from me. Happy Friday! Head over to our US site for more market moving news.

Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at online trading platform IG, said:

While Wall Street frets about potential volatility from President Trump's 2 April "Liberation Day" plans, another part of America is also bracing for more possible chaos: US ports.

If the president next week imposes sweeping new duties on America's top trading partners, that could place a significant new burden on ports of entry from coast to coast, which act as conduits for a wide variety of goods critical to the global economy.

One person trying to raise the alarm with policymakers this week is Cindy Allen, CEO of an international trade consulting company called Trade Force Multiplier.

There comes a point, she told Yahoo Finance in between meetings, when "you're stacking all of the duty rates together" to such an extent that "the custom system can't handle that."

Read more on Yahoo Finance

From our US team:

The latest reading of the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge showed prices increased more than expected in February as inflation remained above the Fed's 2% target. The release comes as investors have been closely watching data releases for signs of how President Donald Trump's tariff policy is impacting the economy.

The "core" Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index, which strips out food and energy costs and is closely watched by the central bank, rose 0.4% from the prior month during February, above economists expectations for a 0.3% increase. The reading was higher than the 0.3% increase seen in January.

Over the prior year, core prices rose 2.8%, above Wall Street's expectations of 2.7% and higher than the 2.6% seen in January. On a yearly basis, overall PCE increased 2.5%, in line with economists expectations.

WH Smith (SMWH.L) is set to disappear from UK high streets after it reached a deal with the owner of Hobbycraft to rebrand as TGJones.

In the deal with Modella Capital, which valued the company at £76m, approximately 480 stores and 5,000 staff will move to new ownership.

The deal does not include the retailer’s travel locations, such as shops in airports and train stations – nor the WH Smith brand.

Read more on Yahoo News UK

Yahoo Finance UK's Vicky McKeever writes:

Gold prices rose to fresh highs on Friday morning, with investors flocking to the safe-haven asset amid tariff uncertainty.

Gold futures (GC=F) rose 0.6% to $3,109.50 per ounce at the time of writing, while the spot price advanced 0.6% to $3,070.02 an ounce.

Trump's tariffs on cars are due to come into effect on 2 April, along with reciprocal duties on US trading partners expected to be revealed next week.

China's president Xi Jinping gathered a number of top executives from the likes of AstraZeneca (AZN.L) and HSBC (HSBA.L) on Friday, encouraging them to protect global trade.

"We need to work together to maintain the stability of global industrial and supply chains, which is an important guarantee for the healthy development of the world economy,” he said, according to a Reuters report.

There are concerns that Trump's tariffs will add to inflationary pressures and drag on economic growth. Investors have been turning to gold amid the uncertainty, as it is considered to act as a hedge against inflation.

Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.L), said: "Gold has been on another glittering run upwards as investors seek out safe havens for their money. The spike in prices to fresh record levels comes as the world braces for another round of US tariffs, and geopolitical uncertainty swirls.

"The price of gold has also been helped by buying from central banks, particularly by China," she added. "There are also ongoing concerns that governments across the world have piled up high levels of debt, which is associated with a rise in long-term inflationary expectations."

The ONS said:

Yahoo Finance UK's Pedro Goncalves writes:

Shares in the yoga pants maker plunged by over 10% in pre-market trading as it said it expects sales growth to slow this year, hurt by cautious consumers who are limiting their spending amid an uncertain macroeconomic environment.

Lululemon (LULU) posted a 10% year-on-year rise in revenue, reaching $10.6bn (£82.bn), buoyed by the opening of new stores and growth at existing locations. Annual net income also increased, growing 17% to $1.8bn.

However, investors were not happy with the outlook, pushing the stock down 11% to $304.78 in pre-market trading. Although the company had previously updated its guidance for the holiday quarter in January, attention shifted to management’s forecasts for the upcoming fiscal year, which were less optimistic than anticipated.

For the year ending in January 2025, Lululemon (LULU) projected net revenue to range between $11.15bn and $11.3bn, representing a modest 5% to 7% increase. Analysts had anticipated a revenue growth of 7%, with expectations pointing to a total of $11.3bn.

Additionally, the company’s earnings per share guidance of $14.95 to $15.15 fell short of Wall Street's estimate of $15.37. Lululemon’s (LULU) forecast for the first quarter was also disappointing, with expected revenue ranging from $2.335bn to $2.355bn and earnings per share between $2.53 and $2.58. Analysts had predicted $2.39bn in revenue and $2.72 in earnings per share.

“We started this year with several compelling new product launches, but we also believe the dynamic macro environment has contributed to a more cautious consumer,” Calvin McDonald, chief executive, told analysts.

Read more on Yahoo Finance UK

WH Smith stock headed 1.8% lower by mid-morning:

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said of the pending sale of WH Smith (SMWH.L):

Neil Wilson, analyst at TipRanks, said:

Jacqueline Windsor, head of retail at PwC UK, said:

Yahoo Finance UK's Pedro Goncalves writes:

The UK economy posted modest growth in the final quarter of 2024, with gross domestic product (GDP) increasing by 0.1% between October and December, which was unchanged from previous estimates, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

This follows a period of stagnation, with zero growth recorded in the third quarter. However, the ONS also reported a slight dip of 0.1% in GDP for January 2025.

Richard Carter, head of fixed interest research at Quilter Cheviot, said: "The UK economy continues to tread water, with today’s national accounts confirming just how anaemic growth was at the end of 2024. Real GDP rose by just 0.1% in the final quarter, driven largely by modest growth of 0.1% in the services sector and 0.3% in construction.

"The broader picture remains one of stagnation, with GDP per head estimated to have fallen by an unrevised 0.1% and underlying weakness across key areas such as business investment and production."

UK retail sales ticked up in February, with growth spurred by strong performances at department stores, hardware shops and fashion. Meanwhile, food sales were more subdued.

“After a very strong January, food sales fell back this month, particularly across supermarkets," said ONS senior statistician Hannah Finselbach.

“It was a positive month for household goods stores with their largest rise since April 2021, driven by hardware store sales. Clothing sales also picked up a little, due to falling prices from widespread discounting.

“Looking at the wider trend, retail sales are now showing growth across both the three-month and annual period, but remain below pre-pandemic levels.”

From our US team:

US stock futures edged lower as Wall Street continues to grapple with president Trump's escalating trade war.

Futures attached to the Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM=F) slipped 0.10%, the benchmark S&P 500 (ES=F) fell 0.1% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (NQ=F) dipped 0.2%.

Stocks have had a rollercoaster of a week, starting off on a high on hopes that Trump would temper his tariff plans and then abruptly diving on Wednesday upon news of new duties on auto imports.

Markets continued to slide Thursday as Wall Street digested Trump's 25% levies on foreign cars along with more hawkish comments on what lies ahead in the trade war. 2 April, the date when broad reciprocal tariffs are set to take effect, is looming large.

Hello from London. It's been a busy week — what with UK chancellor Rachel Reeves' spring statement and yet more tariff wrangling from president Donald Trump. This morning we've also had a GDP print for the last quarter of 2024.

Coming up:

— GfK's consumer confidence survey

— More detail on UK government borrowing

Let's get to it.