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European stock markets fall as investors price in ‘economic catastrophe’<\/p>\n
Stock markets are falling across Europe.<\/p>\n
Frankfurt\u2019s stock market has started the day with a bump; Germany\u2019s DAX share index is down 1.5%.<\/p>\n
France\u2019s CAC 40 has dropped by 1.35%, and Italy\u2019s FTSE Mib is down 1.2%.<\/p>\n
London\u2019s FTSE 100 index is showing a smaller fall<\/a> \u2013 now down 0.6%, as oil company shares rally.<\/p>\n Chris Beauchamp, chief analyst at IG, says markets are now anticipating longer delays to oil supplies from the Gulf, as Trump didn\u2019t provide guidance for how the conflict may end.<\/p>\n double quotation mark \u201cIn what might be the most dramatic April Fools\u2019 of recent years, Donald Trump did nothing of what was expected in his speech. Instead of \u2018no more war\u2019, we got \u2018no, more war!\u2019, with heavier strikes expected and a fresh warning of attacks on power plants.<\/p>\n This leaves markets back where they were last week, and now we have to price in hundreds of millions of barrels of oil that aren\u2019t coming out any time soon. The gloomy predictions of last week would have been perhaps misplaced if Trump had signalled a quick end, but now markets are back to pricing in economic catastrophe.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Oil company shares rise<\/p>\n The UK stock market is being propped up by oil producers.<\/p>\n BP (+2.9%) and Shell (+2%) are leading the risers on the FTSE 100 share index, following the 6% jump in Brent crude prices this morning.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>FTSE 100 falls as global sell-off reaches London<\/p>\n The London stock market has joined the global sell-off, as hopes of a quick end to the Middle East conflict fade.<\/p>\n The FTSE 100 index of blue-chip shares has dropped by 0.68%, or 70 points, at the open to trade around 10,297 points.<\/p>\n Yesterday, the \u2018Footsie\u2019 had jumped by 188 points, its best day in almost a year, but the optimism that pushed stocks higher has retreated after Donald Trump vowed to hit Iran \u2018extremely hard\u2019.<\/p>\n Precious metal miners Fresnillo (-5.7%) and Endeavour (-5.3%) are the top fallers on the FTSE 100, as traders react to a 3% drop in the gold price today.<\/p>\n They\u2019re followed by housebuilder Barratt Redrow (-3.8%) and copper producer Antofagasta (-3.6%), who would both suffer weaker demand if the Iran conflict keeps interest rates high, hurting borrowers and global economic growth.<\/p>\n Jim Reid, market strategist at Deutsche Bank, says Trump\u2019s primetime address has dented market optimism:<\/p>\n double quotation markAfter rallying sharply over the previous two sessions, market sentiment has deteriorated overnight after Trump\u2019s much anticipated address last night delivered little to nothing new on potential timelines or conditions for ending hostilities against Iran. The US President claimed that the operation against Iran was \u201cvery close\u201d to completion but also said the US \u201cwill hit Iran extremely hard over the next 2-3 weeks\u201d. Trump again raised the threat to hit Iran\u2019s power plants if there is no negotiated deal and reiterated the view that shipping via the Strait of Hormuz was other countries\u2019 problem. So while Trump sounded flexible on remaining war aims, for instance claiming that Iran is \u201cno longer a threat\u201d, there was no signal of the US seeking an imminent offramp out of the war.<\/p>\n In response, markets have reversed the continued positive momentum they\u2019d seen yesterday amid rising hopes that an end to the conflict might be coming into view.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Oven Pride household goods group McBride raising prices to recover Iran war costs<\/p>\n UK cleaning products maker McBride is putting up its prices, to pass on increased costs from the Iran war.<\/p>\n McBride, which makes the Oven Pride, Clean n Fresh and Actiff cleaning ranges, told the City this morning it is implementing \u201ctemporary\u201d price hikes to cover increased costs from the conflict.<\/p>\n McBride explained that its chemical and packaging suppliers have begin raising their prices to recover the cost of more expensive raw materials, and higher energy costs.<\/p>\n The first signs of possible shortages in supply chains around the world are beginning to emerge, it warns, adding:<\/p>\n double quotation markAs a result, the Group will see elevated input costs in April and expects further increases in the near future. Consequently, the Group has already informed all customers about temporary price adjustments, or surcharges to current pricing, to recover these higher, beyond our control, cost impacts from the Middle East conflict.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Clampdown on ‘subscription traps’ could help in cost of living squeeze<\/p>\n With mortgage rates and fuel costs climbing, Britons don\u2019t also need to be wasting cash on unwanted subscriptions.<\/p>\n And new government plans, which aim to better protect consumers from \u201csubscription traps\u201d, could help.<\/p>\n The rules, which could come into force early next year, will ensure consumers receive reminders before their free or discounted trials end, or when contracts of 12 months or more automatically renew.<\/p>\n The changes will also make it easier to cancel subscriptions, and create a a new 14-day cooling-off period for when a free or discounted trial concludes, or when a contract renews for a year or longer.<\/p>\n Business minister Kate Dearden has said that the Government\u2019s new rules for subscriptions will give consumers \u201cmore control of their hard-earned cash\u201d.<\/p>\n Speaking to Times Radio, she said:<\/p>\n double quotation mark\u201cI\u2019ve heard from so many people the impacts that unwanted subscriptions or subscriptions that you weren\u2019t aware of, the impact that can have on their finances.<\/p>\n \u201cSo we\u2019re making sure that people have more control of their hard-earned cash, that you are more aware of the subscriptions that you signed up to.<\/p>\n \u201cThese new rules that we\u2019re announcing today make sure that businesses have to inform you about when a free trial might come to an end.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s right at any point, but especially during a cost of living crisis, when people might want to re-look at their subscriptions.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Nervous investors are, again, taking shelter in the US dollar.<\/p>\n The dollar, a classic safe-haven asset, has gained almost 0.5% against a basket of major currencies today.<\/p>\n This move has pushed the pound down by almost a cent to $1.321, reversing yesterday\u2019s gains.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Brent crude jumps 6% after Trump speech<\/p>\n Oil is pushing higher too.<\/p>\n Brent crude, the international benchmark, has leapt by over 6% this morning to $107.63 a barrel \u2013 yesterday, hopes of de-escalation in the Middle East had pushed it below the $100\/barrel mark.<\/p>\n Our Middle East crisis blog is covering all the key events that may move the oil price further today:<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Asia-Pacific markets fall after Trump speech<\/p>\n Asia-Pacific stock markets are a sea of red after Donald Trump dented hopes of an early end to the Iran war.<\/p>\n All the major stock markets in the region have fallen, after the US president used his primetime address overnight to vow to hit Iran \u201cextremely hard\u201d over the coming weeks.<\/p>\n Hopes of an imminent end to the conflict are fading today, as Trump declared:<\/p>\n double quotation mark\u201cWe\u2019re going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks. We\u2019re going to bring them back to the Stone Ages where they belong.\u201d<\/p>\n Japan\u2019s Nikkei index has fallen by 2.4%, while China\u2019s CSI 300 index is 1.36% lower. South Korea\u2019s KOSPI (which has been particularly sensitive to the crisis) has tumbled by 4.8%.<\/p>\n After a couple of days where markets have struck a decidedly more positive tone, a degree of caution has once again crept into proceedings overnight, says Michael Brown, senior research strategist at brokerage Pepperstone, adding:<\/p>\n double quotation markPresident Trump\u2019s \u2018address to the nation\u2019 hasn\u2019t helped on this front, with market participants having wanted to hear a bit more than the President provided.<\/p>\n While Trump did note that the US is \u2018nearing completion\u2019 of its strategic objectives, and reiterated that those countries reliant on crude flows through Hormuz should be the ones to re-open it, Trump failed to give a definitive timeframe for ending the conflict, while also nothing that Iran will be hit \u2018very hard\u2019 over the next couple of weeks.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Record monthly petrol and diesel price increases in March<\/p>\n It\u2019s not just mortgages that are going up<\/a>, either.<\/p>\n UK petrol and diesel prices jumped by a record amount in March, as the oil supply shock caused by the Iran war quickly rippled to forecourts.<\/p>\n New data from the RAC shows that the average price of a litre of unleaded petrol rose by 20p from 132.83p on 1 March to 152.83p by the end of the month. That surpasses the previous all-time biggest monthly jump of 16.6p recorded in June 2022, following Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n Diesel prices have risen even more sharply \u2013 up 40p in March to an average of 182.77p from 142.38p. That\u2019s almost twice as large as the previous record rise of 22p recorded in March 2022.<\/p>\n RAC head of policy Simon Williams says March\u2019s price rises were \u2018unprecedented\u2019, adding:<\/p>\n double quotation mark\u201cThe increases drivers have had to endure in March 2026 far exceed those seen in the early days of the war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile the monthly rise in a litre of petrol is bad enough, the jump in the cost of diesel is even harder to swallow at 40p a litre.<\/p>\n \u201cWith long-term RAC research showing eight-in-10 people are dependent on their vehicles, these costs must really be taking their toll on households as well as businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n However, these record increases are in nominal terms; in real terms, prices rose by more during the oil shock of 1973, the RAC point out.<\/p>\n And despite these price rises, average fuel prices are still below the all-time highs of summer 2022 when petrol peaked at 191.5p per litre and diesel at 199.0p per litre.<\/p>\n