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The FTSE 100 fell on Friday amid a wider stock market sell-off after US President Donald Trump said he would slap 50% trade tariffs on the European Union.
London’s blue-chip index ended the day down 21.29 points to finish the day at 8,717.97, a 0.24% fall.
Mr Trump said on Friday that discussions with the EU on trade were “going nowhere” and that new 50% tariffs would take effect on June 1.
The move is an escalation of his trade war with the bloc, after proposing a 20% tariff on US imports from the EU and then halving that to 10% to give time for negotiations.
Mr Trump also said he would apply a 25% levy on Apple’s iPhones that are manufactured outside the US.
“I have long ago informed Tim Cook of Apple that I expect their iPhone’s [sic] that will be sold in the United States of America will be manufactured and built in the United States, not India, or anyplace else,” he said.
Susannah Streeter, an analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said Mr Trump’s approach to Europe had “sparked fresh fears that punishing tariffs could become a reality for the bloc”.
“Even though the US president has become known for a harsh bark but a less painful bite, it does seem as though talks have hit an impasse and that’s sparked a sell-off.”
She added: “Investors are mulling the repercussions of this latest tariff twist, and realisation is dawning that the trade war is still very much alive.”
In Europe, Germany’s Dax fell 1.61% and France’s Cac 40 fell 1.65%.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 was down 0.81% as UK markets were closing, while the Dow Jones was down 0.69%.
Sterling was up 0.68% against the US dollar at 1.3511, and it was 0.07% up against the euro at 1.1904.
In company news, shares in AJ Bell soared on Friday as it announced a jump in customer numbers and hit a new record amount of assets under administration.
The investing firm said it added 51,000 customers in the six months to March, a 9% increase, to 593,000.
Meanwhile, assets under administration rose to £90.4 billion, a 5% increase, mostly driven by £3.3 billion in net inflows.
Shares rose 8.4% to 495.60p.
Elsewhere, Games Workshop said it was handing out about £20 million to its staff after the maker of the Warhammer game series grew sales and profits over the past year.
The Nottingham-based company said it would make the cash payments, as a share of its profits, “on an equal basis to each member of staff”.
This is in recognition of their contribution to its financial performance, which strengthened over the financial year ending on June 1, it said in an update ahead of the full-year results.
Shares in the group fell 3.21% to 15,360p.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Anglo American, up 71.5p to 2191.5p, Endeavour Mining, up 72p to 2260p, Fresnillo, up 27p to 1133p, ConvaTec, up 5.8p to 285.4p, and Rentokil, up 6.8p to 353.6p.
The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were JD Sports, down 2.58p to 82.58p, Prudential, down 24.4p to 826.4p, Games Workshop, down 440p to 15430p, Beazley, down 25p to 924.5p, and Mondi, down 30.5p to 1183p.
