Trade war fears wipe billions off stock market

Trade war fears have sparked a global equity sell-off and wiped nearly £45 billion off the FTSE 100, which suffered its worst one-day decline in over a year.

London’s blue chip index tumbled 2.24% or 172.43 points to end the day at 7,509.84 points, with similar losses logged across Europe where the French Cac 40 and German Dax slumped 1.9% and 2.4% respectively.

It was the largest one-day drop for the FTSE 100 since April 18 2017, when it fell 2.46%.

Major US indexes including the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 were also down around 1.5% each in early trading.

Global stocks were suffering declines amid fears of an escalating global trade war centred on the relationship between the US and China.

The pound was also struggling to gain ground, trading flat against the US dollar at 1.326 and falling 0.1% versus the euro to trade at 1.134.

Brent crude prices slid by around 2% to 74.26 US dollars per barrel.

The only risers on the FTSE 100 were ITV up 0.4p at 177p, United Utilities Group up 0.4p at 751p, and Associated British Foods up 1p at 2,836p.

The biggest fallers were Carnival down 528p at 4,215p, Micro Focus International down 71p at 1,293p, Glencore down 18.15p at 369p, and Anglo American down 76.8p at 1,620.2p.