BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - U.K. stocks are falling sharply, sending the benchmark FTSE 100 to a near three-month lows, as investors continue to exit counters amid rising fears of a wide-ranging trade war and a global recession following U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping 'reciprocal tariff' plans.
Criticizing Trump's decision to impose 34% of additional reciprocal levies on China, which raises total U.S. tariffs against the country to 54%, as 'inconsistent with international trade rules,' the China's finance ministry said today that it will impose a 34% tariff on all goods imported from the U.S. starting on April 10.
Shares from banking, mining and oil sectors are among the major losers.
The benchmark FTSE 100 is down 361.25 points or 4.26% at 8,113.49.
Barclays Group is down with a loss of nearly 11%. Natwest Group is down 10.2%, Lloyds Banking Group is down 8.1% and HSBC Holdings is declining 7.5%, while Standard Chartered is down 7.3%.
Glencore, Melrose Industries, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Antofagasta, St. James's Place, Airtel Africa, Babcock International, Weir Group, Anglo American Plc, Intermediate Capital Group and Prudential are plunging by 7 to 9%.
M&G, Schroders, Fresnillo, Hiscox, IAG, Aviva, BAE Systems, BP, Shell, Scottish Mortgage, BT Group, Informa, Rio Tinto, Hikma Pharmaceuticals, 3i Group, Endeavour Mining, Persimmon, Intertek Group and AstraZeneca are also down sharply.
National Grid, SSE, United Utilities and Unilever are bucking the trend and trading notably higher.
Survey results from S&P Global said the UK construction sector logged a sustained downturn in March amid rising cost pressures. The construction Purchasing Managers' Index climbed to 46.4 in March from 44.6 in February.
Among the main categories, civil engineering activity deteriorated at the steepest pace since October 2020, linked to delayed decision-making on new projects and a generally subdued pipeline of major infrastructure work. The decline in commercial building was the fastest since January 2021, while residential construction activity fell at a slower pace than in February.
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