Global stocks plummeted worldwide on Monday as US President Donald Trump remains unwilling to back down from his ongoing tariff war and Wall Street braces for a repeat of 1987’s Black Monday.
In London, over €117.1 billion was wiped off the FTSE 100, slumping almost five per cent within the first 10 minutes of opening - following on from sharp falls in financial markets in Asia.
All eyes remain on the US when the markets open up on Monday morning, at 9.30am New York time, amid concerns that President Trump's tariffs are hammering some of its biggest companies, the Mirror UK reports.
Some analysts feared a repeat of 1987’s Black Monday, when a slump in US markets in mid-October led to heavy losses worldwide.
Market commentator and CNBC host Jim Cramer warned: "If the President doesn’t try to reach out and reward these countries and companies that play by the rules, then the 1987 scenario… the one where we went down three days and then down 22 per cent on Monday, has the most cogency."
The carnage on Monday morning saw another €2.1 trillion off global markets, even prior to trading starting in the US for the week.
The US president stuck to his guns over the weekend, firm in his stance the stock market turmoil would pass and telling reporters "sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something", when quizzed about the falls.
Monday’s crash came as Trump stressed he would not do a deal with China until the US trade deficit was sorted out, with Beijing then declaring the markets had spoken on their retaliation plans.
Many investors thought the loss of trillions of dollars and the blow to the economy would push Trump to reconsider his plans.
Joseph Hill, senior investment analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "It’s been a whirlwind period for markets, with investors hanging on Trump’s every word. The decision by the US administration to impose widespread tariffs and duties on trading partners around the world brings a screeching halt to decades of globalisation."
Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, added: "China is clearly in the mood for the fight, and with the world’s two largest economies at loggerheads, the result has been ugly for investors.
"Retaliatory tariffs announced on Friday by China sent markets into another tailspin, while comments from President Trump over the weekend will do little to assuage the situation, with US futures already pointing to another difficult trading session to come."
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