FTSE 100 Sharply Lower As Trump's Tariff Announcement Hurts Sentiment

(RTTNews) - U.K. stocks are languishing in negative territory after a weak start Thursday morning amid fears of a global trade war after U.S. President Donald Trump announced steep "reciprocal tariffs" on major trading partners.

The British market's loss is somewhat less pronounced compared to other major European markets, as UK imports face a 10% tariff, half the 20% levy imposed on the European Union.

British Prime Minister Starmer has stated that the UK will respond with "cool and calm heads".

The benchmark FTSE 100 was down 131.20 points or 1.52% at 8,477.28 a little while ago. Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 are down by about 2.3% and 2.4%, respectively.

Standard Chartered is down 8.4%. HSBC Holdings and Barclays are down by 5.4% and 5.6%, respectively. Natwest Group is declining 2.5%, and Lloyds Banking Group is down 2%.

Informa, Mondi, Intercontinental Hotels, Polar Capital Technology Trust and Phoenix Group Holdings are down 5 to 6%.

Antofagasta, Experian, JD Sports Fashion, Anglo American Plc, Melrose Industries, Intertek Group, Intermediate Capital Group, Prudential, Smihs Group, Halma, IAG, BP, Glencore, Weir Group and Fresnillo are down 2.7 to 4.7%.

Severn Trent, SSE, United Utilities, Sainsbury (J) and Marks & Spencer are advancing by 3 to 3.3%.

National Grid, Unite Group, Tesco, Diageo, Land Securities, GSK, Vodafone Group, BT Group, Imperial Brands, Segro and Associated British Foods are also up with strong gains.

Data from S&P Global said the UK Composite PMI registered 51.5 in March, revised down from the preliminary estimate of 52.0. However, the reading was still above February's 50.5.

The S&P Global UK Services PMI was revised lower to 52.5 in March from a preliminary score of 53.2. But, the score till marked the highest reading since August 2024.