- FTSE 100 sinks almost 420 points to 8,054.98
- Wall Street to plunge for second day
- China imposes 34% tariff on US goods
- NFPs beat forecasts
- Pharma a safe haven? Don't bet on it
Close: Footsie ends 420 points lower at 8,054.98
It was one of the worst days on the stock market since the start of the pandemic for UK investors, though the pain was shared globally with trillions wiped from the value of equities in a bloody session in the wake of the Trump tariff assault on the rest of the word.
While predictable, the retaliatory salvo by the Chinese set the tone, sending stocks lurching lower in anticipation of what is gearing up to be a trade war, potentially sending the world into recession.
"Today’s trading has had an air of panic about it," said Chris Beauchamp, Chief Market Analyst at IG.
"[It] may provide the fuel for a short-term bounce, but until the administration changes its tune on tariffs or gets its tax cut plans through such rallies are unlikely to go on too long. With the VIX at elevated levels, investors can continue to expect wild swings for the time being.”
3.33pm: Bloodbath continues
So, we took another lurch down with the FTSE 100 off almost 400 points at 8,076.15 as traders head into a hectic last hour of trading. The gloves are off with China retaliating to Wednesday's Trump tariff assault with import levies of its own.
In the US, the price action was frenetic and earthbound with the Dow off 3.4% and the tech-focused Nasdaq tumbling 4.9%.
The percentages don't seem too troubling until you zoom out. In the past month, the Nasdaq, for example, has given up 14%, which as well as trillions of dollars of lost value also comes out of the pockets of those with pensions or savings invested in the stock market.
1:30pm: Wall Street to plunge again, upbeat March jobs brushed aside
Upbeat, pre-tariffs, American employment data is falling on deaf ears ahead of Friday’s open on Wall Street.
Today’s March non-farm payroll report revealed that the US economy added many more new jobs last month than was forecast by economists – at 228,000 new positions versus a predicted 140,000.
The US unemployment rate however increased to 4.2% in March, from 4.1%.
This good news is likely to quickly look out of date, or at least overlooked, as Donald Trump’s ‘trade war’ threatened to spiral.
China, ahead of the US jobs data, announced it would levy a 34% retaliatory tariff on all goods imported from the United States.
In the premarket, the Dow Jones index is seen losing another 1,200 points (or 3%) adding to the 1,679 points lost since Trump’s tariff announcement as of Thursday’s close.
The S&P is similarly trading 2.6% lower in premarket dealing, down 133 points to 5,291, and the Nasdaq is off 455 points or 2.4% at 18,221.
“In the last 48 hours, the cornerstones of global trade have shifted so dramatically due to Trump's tariff announcements that the employment figures were already outdated by the time they were freshly released,” CMC Markets chief analyst Jochen Stanzl said in a note.
“At present, it is simply too early to say how the jobs market will develop in this new environment.
“Even a glance at the jobs market situation in March does little to help.”
12:55pm: Has the Footsie found its bottom?
After a lurch downward mid-morning, the FTSE 100 has is bumping around of its lows for the day, though it hasn't dived down further down the well of despair.
That said, there's nothing much to indicate a recovery when Wall Street opens. Futures trading is indicating the Dow Will open down 3.3% and the Nasdaq will come off a further 3.8%. Happy days!
Elsewhere, the healthcare sector may have escaped the worst of Donald Trump’s so-called Liberation Day tariffs - but Panmure Liberum is warning investors not to get too comfortable just yet.
In a new note, the broker describes healthcare as a “safe-ish haven” amid the broader trade turmoil.
That cautious qualification reflects one big caveat: while pharmaceuticals are currently exempt from new import duties, there’s no guarantee they’ll stay that way.
For now, Panmure reckons 85% of the UK-listed healthcare companies it covers will see little to no impact. But it’s a mixed picture, especially for the medtech end of the sector.
Companies like Smith & Nephew PLC (LSE:SN), Advanced Medical Solutions Group (AIM:AMS), and Niox are facing the biggest potential headwinds.
12.05pm: China enters the fray
The FTSE 100 extended its losses by noon after China retaliated with a 34% tariff on US goods. The index sank 316 points or 3.7% to 8,158.82, wiping out all its gains for 2025,
According to state news outlet Xinhua, China will impose a 34% tariff on all US imports from 10 April, retaliating against new US duties introduced by the Trump administration. Beijing urged the US to cancel its unilateral measures and criticised the move as a violation of international trade rules.
Xinhua noted that the increased tariffs, which raise total US duties on Chinese goods to 54%, threaten its interests and global economic stability.
In US premarket trading, Dow Jones futures are down 2.7%, while those for the S&P 500 are pointing to a 2.8% decline and the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 is set to fall 3%.
9.50am: More woes for the construction sector
Britain’s construction industry continued to struggle in March, with civil engineering seeing its steepest decline since 2020 due to weak demand and a lack of new infrastructure projects.
Business confidence dropped, job losses accelerated, and new orders fell for the third month in a row.
The construction PMI rose slightly to 46.4 but stayed below the growth threshold. Rising payroll costs and economic uncertainty also weighed heavily on the sector’s outlook.
The FTSE is now 122 points, or 1.45% lower at 8,352.25.
9.15am: Focus switches to NFPs
The FTSE 100 was deeper in the red by mid-morning on concerns about the impact of Trump's tariffs on global growth.
Shortly after 9am, the blue-chip index was 109 points, or 1.28% lower at 8,366.08.
NatWest Group PLC (LSE:NWG) now leads the loser board, down 5.2%, followed by Glencore PLC (LSE:GLEN) (-4.9%), Fresnillo PLC (LSE:FRES) (-4.4%) and Standard Chartered PLC (LSE:STAN) and HSBC Holdings PLC (LSE:HSBA), both down 4.2%.
Attention is now turning to March's Non-Farm Payrolls report, which is released at 1:30pm UK time.
US job growth is expected to have slowed in March, partly due to major cuts in public sector employment as the federal government aims to reduce spending. Businesses have also been cautious about hiring because of ongoing import tariffs affecting economic stability.
Economists surveyed by Reuters predict nonfarm payrolls rose by 135,000 in March, down from 151,000 in February and below the six-month average of 190,000. The unemployment rate is projected to hold steady at 4.1%.
"Ahead of today’s Non-Farm Payrolls release, it is noteworthy that US job cuts reported by Challenger rose sharply in March, reaching 275,000 for the month, surpassing the highs seen during both the dot-com bubble and the Global Financial Crisis," said Tickmill Group's Patrick Munnelly.
8.40: Bank lowers oil price forecasts
Banks are recalculating their forecasts on concerns that a global trade war could result in recession in some economies.
Also citing rising suppling from OPEC+, Goldman Sachs now expects Brent crude to average $69 a barrel this year, down 5.5%, while WTI has been revised to $66, a 4.3% cut.
The bank also lowered its 2026 outlook for Brent by 9% to $62, and WTI by 6.3% to $59, warning that further downgrades are possible.
The move follows a sharp sell-off in crude after Trump’s sweeping tariffs and OPEC+ members surprised markets by advancing plans to increase output.
8.15am: FTSE 100 continues its fall
The FTSE 100 fell 42 points in opening trades, declining 0.5% to 8,432.88 as US President Donald Trump's shock import tariffs continue to reverberate across world markets.
The FTSE 250 is down 54 points, 0.27% to 19,156.09.
"European markets and US futures are trading lower as investors continue to a highly defensive mode amid escalating global trade tensions and fears of a potential economic slowdown," commented Zaye Capital Markets' Naeem Aslam.
"All of this comes at a time when the mother of all economic data will be released and if the data confirms further pessimism then one can easily anticipate another major blood bath in the markets today."
Big blue-chip fallers again include Asia-focused lenders Standard Chartered PLC (LSE:STAN) and HSBC Holdings PLC (LSE:HSBA), both down around 3%.
Global diversified miners Antofagasta PLC (LSE:ANTO) and Anglo American PLC (LSE:AAL) are down 2.7% and 2.1% respectively.
There are a few gainers, including easyJet PLC (LSE:EZJ), up 2.3%, British American Tobacco PLC (LSE:BATS), up 1.6% and SSE PLC (LSE:SSE), which rose 1.4% in early trade.
7.40am: Stock futures turn around
Futures for the FTSE 100 have turned around, indicating another red day for the market. London blue chips are now predicted to open 16 points down, extending its losses.
On Thursday, the FTSE shed 133 points, around 1.6%, to 8,474.74 as markets reeled from US President Donald Trump's bigger-than-expected tariffs for a range of countries.
7.35am: BP on the hunt for new chair
BP says it's begun the search for a new chair after Helge Lund told the board he plans to step down.
The oil major said the successful candidate will join the board ahead of taking over the role to allow for an orderly handover. Lund is expected to leave the board in 2026.
Lund said: "Having fundamentally reset our strategy, BP's focus now is on delivering the strategy at pace, improving performance and growing shareholder value."
7.15am: FTSE 100 called 3 points higher
The FTSE 100 is predicted to rise marginally at the open on Friday as investors continue to take stock of US President Donald Trump's surprisingly high import tariffs for a broad range of countries, even though the UK's were contained at 10%.
Futures for the London blue-chip index were pointing to a 3-point gain, while Asian markets continue to decline and US futures indicate another weak start.
The S&P 500 posted its worst day in nearly five years on Thursday as Wall Street faced a tariff bloodbath. By the close, the Dow Jones had tumbled 4% to 40,546, while the S&P 500 fell 4.8% to 5,397. The Nasdaq suffered the steepest decline, plummeting 6% as technology stocks bore the brunt of the selloff.
Japan's Nikkei 225 index is down another 2.9% this morning and Hong Kong's Hang Seng is down 1.5%, while the Shanghai Composite index is only 0.24% lower.
"The last 24 hours have been truly historic for markets, as the impact of the US reciprocal tariffs cascaded across different asset classes, with no sign of letting up overnight," commented Deutsche Bank's Jim Reid.
5am: What to watch on Friday
On Friday, markets are still likely to be processing the US tariff announcement from mid-week, though there will still be a focus on economic data from the past month, of which the big release is the US labour market data.
March is forecast to have seen around 138,000 non-farm jobs created, with the unemployment rate expected to remain stable at 4.1%, while average hourly wages are expected to have grown by 4% year-on-year, within the long-term range.
"However, some analysts are expecting a large upside surprise to the March payrolls number," said Kathleen Brooks, head of research at XTB.
"This is down to a rebound in jobs growth after storms and fires distorted the January and February jobs figures, front running of tariffs and some reversals of government grant freezes that may have boosted US jobs growth last month."
DOGE job losses are expected to weigh on jobs growth in later months, though there may be some decline in federal worker numbers in March.
Brooks noted that The market reaction to the US non-farm payrolls report has been "fairly muted" in recent months, due to the distortions to the data caused by weather events, with negligible moves in the dollar, which suggests that "other factors are driving the dollar right now, for example Trump’s tariff talks and concerns about US trade relations, rather than US economic data".
Announcements due on 4 April:
AGM: BBGI Global Infrastructure PLC
Economic announcements: PMI Construction (UK), Factory Orders (GER), Producer Price Index (EU), Non-Farm Payrolls (US), Unemployment Rate (US)