It’s been a brutal week for global investors, especially those with heavy exposure to US equities. The S&P 500 index is down 8.2% in a week and 13.2% in a month, while the Nasdaq Composite has lost 8.6% in one week and 16% over a month. Meanwhile, the UK’s FTSE 100 index has been a relatively safe haven, losing 7% in a week, but only 8% over the past month.
Footsie fares okay
These recent falls in the American stock market were no surprise to me. On 20 February, one day after the S&P 500 hit a fresh record high, I wrote that “US stocks look overpriced” — repeating a belief I’ve expressed repeatedly in 2025.
Having witnessed the stock-market crashes of 1987, 2000-03, 2007-09, and spring 2020, I’m not afraid of market meltdowns. I see these corrections as opportunities to buy into great companies at lower prices. That said, I see far more value in the FTSE 100 than in its American counterpart.
Also, it’s worth noting that the FTSE 100 is actually up 1.8% over 12 months. Adding in cash dividends of 3.5% takes the Footsie‘s total one-year return to around 5.3%. In contrast, the S&P 500 is down 2.5% over 12 months, with its dividend yield of 1.4% reducing this loss to 1.1%. For the Nasdaq Composite, these numbers are -4.1%, +0.9%, and -3.2%.
In other words, the FTSE 100 has shown itself to be fairly resilient in the face of the latest US market storms. Even so, scores of Footsie stocks took a beating this week.
FTSE fallers
Here’s a selection of popular and widely held FTSE 100 shares that dived at least 10% this week:
| Company | One-week loss |
| Shell | -11.3% |
| Lloyds Banking Group | -11.4% |
| HSBC Holdings | -14.2% |
| Rolls-Royce Holdings | -14.6% |
| International Consolidated Airlines Group | -14.8% |
| Barclays | -14.8% |
| BP | -14.9% |
Two of these FTSE fallers are major energy companies, hit by falling oil prices and fears of slowing global demand. Three are big banks, whose earnings could shrink if the UK economy contracts. And two are players in global aviation, which would suffer in any prolonged recession.
Value play or recovery stock?
Amid this latest bout of market anxiety, I think I’ve spotted one FTSE 100 potential recovery/value play. Shares in miner and commodity trader Glencore (LSE: GLEN) plunged by 19% this week, placing it at 99/100 among Footsie stocks.
Having hit a one-year high of 506.72p on 20 May 2024, Glencore stock hit a 52-week low of 230.55p on Friday, 4 April. The shares then closed at 236.9p, valuing this group at £29.1bn. This leaves the share price down a whopping 48.9% over one year. Yikes.
For the record, my wife and I bought Glencore stock in August 2023 for 435.1p a share, so we are nursing a paper loss of 45.6%. But this has been partly offset by the generous dividends we have received to date.
Speaking of dividends, Glencore’s cash yield has jumped to 3.8% after this price plunge. History shows me that mining revenues are highly cyclical and volatile, driven by commodity booms and busts. Also, miners sometimes cut their dividends. Still, this stock looks so under-priced to me now that I have no intention of selling our stock. In fact, we may buy more of this FTSE 100 stalwart!
