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The US economy has undergone a narrative shift over the past month.

After two years of outperforming expectations, it now appears the economy is growing slower than many on Wall Street thought it would to start 2025. But while the economy is cooling, it isn't collapsing.

"Growth looks like it's maybe moderating a bit, consumer spending moderating a bit, but still at a solid pace," Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said during his most recent press conference on March 19.

Powell's description of an economy that "seems to be healthy" came after the Fed lowered its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) projection for 2025 to 1.7% in its latest Summary of Economic Projections (SEP) last week. This marked a move lower from the 2.1% growth the Fed had projected back in December.

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Copper (HG=F) prices climbed closer to all-time high levels on Tuesday as indications of more measured Trump administration tariffs extended the industrial metal’s rally this year.

Futures on the London Metal Exchange gained after topping $10,000 per metric ton in the prior session, while contracts on New York’s Comex increased to hover near a record.

On Monday, president Donald Trump hinted reciprocal levies expected on 2 April may not be as widespread as anticipated, easing worries of a global slowdown.

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David Morrison, senior market analyst atTrade Nation said:

Reuters has an exclusive, hot off the press. The EU will close its competition investigation into Apple's (AAPL) browser options following changes it made to its platform, the report says, citing sources with direct knowledge.

The report says:

Shares in Fevertree (FEVR.L) rallied on Tuesday morning, on the back of the tonic maker's preliminary full-year results.

• Revenue increased by 4% over the year to £364m, bolstered by 12% growth in the US. Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation grew by two thirds to £50.7m.

• The company said good initial progress had been made with its long-term strategic partnership with global drinks company Molson Coors (TAP), which was announced at the end of January.

Aarin Chiekrie, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.L), said: "Fevertree (FEVR.L) capped off its 2024 financial year with a mixed set of results. While the tonicmaker’s profits rebounded sharply last year, the near-term outlook for profits is weak.

"This comes as Fevertree (FEVR.L) looks to invest and leverage into its new strategic partnership with global beverage company Molson Coors (TAP).

"In return for handing over a stake in its business, Fevertree’s (FEVR.L) getting access to Coors’ broad production, distribution and marketing resources. It’s hoped that this will help drive the next leg of growth in the US, which has already become the tonic maker’s largest market."

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Yahoo Finance UK's Vicky McKeever writes:

Shares in electric vehicle maker Tesla (TSLA) surged nearly 12% on Monday, rebounding after nine consecutive weeks of losses.

The jump in shares came after Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk urged employees not to sell their stock at a company all-hands meeting last week. Tesla (TSLA) shares had slumped amid concerns over falling sales and a backlash against Musk's role as an adviser to US president Donald Trump, heading up the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Investor optimism that Trump may temper his trade tariff plans, saying on Monday that he may give "a lot of countries breaks" on reciprocal duties, also helped boost the stock.

Renowned US tech investor Cathie Wood said in an interview with Bloomberg in the early hours of Tuesday morning that she remained bullish on Tesla (TSLA) and expected the stock to hit $2,600 (£2,008) in five years, which would be nearly 10 times the current price.

However, figures released on Tuesday showed that Tesla's (TSLA) market share in Europe continued to fall year-on-year in February. Data from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) showed that Tesla (TSLA) had sold 42.6% fewer vehicles in Europe in January and February.

The carmaker's market share had fallen to 1.8% in February from 2.8% a year ago.

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Here's the data from the Ifo:

Oil prices ticked higher as markets assessed the outlook for global demand and the impact of trade developments.

Brent crude rose 0.4%, trading at $72.65 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) climbed by the same margin to $69.38 per barrel.

Both benchmarks saw gains of more than 1% in the previous session after Trump announced a 25% tariff on countries importing oil and gas from Venezuela. Oil is Venezuela’s primary export, and China, which is already facing US tariffs, is its largest buyer.

In addition, OPEC+ is expected to continue its plan to raise oil output for a second consecutive month in May, according to four sources familiar with the matter. The decision comes amid steady oil prices and OPEC+’s intention to push some members to reduce output to make up for past overproduction.

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Carmaker Hyundai has revealed plans to pump $21bn into its US operations by 2028, a move meant to help shield it from president Donald Trump's tariffs.

The plan will include a $5.8bn Hyundai Steel plant in Louisiana that will produce over 2.7 million metric tons of steel annually.

The auto industry has been a focal point of the trade conflict so far. The president said on Monday that he could announce new tariffs on imported cars as soon as this week.

After a strong start this morning as markets opened, Kingfisher (KGF.L) shares are now more than 12% lower:

AJ Bell's Russ Mould said:

Yahoo Finance UK's Pedro Goncalves writes:

The pound held steady against the dollar in early European trading, sitting at $1.2907, as investors remained cautious ahead of the upcoming spring statement. Chancellor Rachel Reeves is set to unveil her fiscal plans on Wednesday, with much attention on how she will address the country’s economic challenges.

Reeves has already committed to no further tax hikes, after facing backlash from the corporate sector over her decision to raise employers’ contributions to national insurance (NI) from 13.8% to 15%. This suggests that Reeves may have little choice but to implement significant cuts to public spending to manage the fiscal deficit.

Such cuts would likely lower consumer inflation expectations, fuelling speculation that the Bank of England (BoE) could move to reduce interest rates in the near term.

Meanwhile, the dollar strengthened, with the Dollar Index (DX-Y.NYB) rising to 104.42, hitting its highest in more than two weeks. The dollar held onto Monday’s gains, supported by strong preliminary March data from the US S&P Global Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) and growing optimism that president Donald Trump’s upcoming tariff announcements on 2 April will be narrower in scope than initially feared.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said:

The B&Q owner's stock headed around 1.2% higher as markets opened in London following a solid quarterly report.

Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG, said:

Our US team writes:

US stock futures wavered Monday night after a solid day in the green for the major gauges, bolstered by optimism that President Trump would temper his plans for reciprocal tariffs.

Futures attached to the benchmark S&P 500 (ES=F), the Nasdaq Composite (NQ=F), and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM=F) all slipped about 0.1%.

Stocks soared on Monday, with all three major averages gaining over 1%. Market optimism has followed signals that the Trump administration may scale back the upcoming tariffs set for April 2. On Monday, the president said he “may give a lot of countries breaks." At the same time, though, he said tariffs on pharmaceutical and autos sectors are still due for the "near future."

On Monday, tech stocks drove an AI-led rally, as Nvidia (NVDA), Meta (META), and Jack Ma's Ant Group begin to rebuild positive sentiment in the rocky sector.

Hello from London. Lucy Harley-McKeown here, poised to bring you the business and markets news of the day.

Today a clutch of companies are reporting, including:

• B&Q owner Kingfisher (KGF.L) — full-year

• Housebuilder Bellway (BWY.L) — full-year

• Tonic-maker Fevertree (FEVR.L) — full-year

• Memestock Gamestop (GME) — quarterly

New Japanese inflation data also came out today.

The Ifo German economic survey is due at 10.30am CET.

Let's get to it.