FTSE 100 opens down 2.2% by 144 to 5757 points as data shows slump in UK housing market – after government put brakes on lockdown easing and Trump threatened $1trillion tariffs on China
London markets opened down by 2.2 per cent this morning as data showed a slump in the UK housing market.
The FTSE 100 index of Britain’s biggest firms was down by 144 to 5757 points, wiping out much of the strong gains it had seen this week after signs of several countries easing lockdown measures.
The domestically focussed mid-cap index fell 1.3%, as Trump said late on Thursday his hard-fought trade deal with China was now of secondary importance to the pandemic, with his administration crafting retaliatory measures over the outbreak.
British Airways operator IAG shed another 2.6% as details of its plans to cut staffing, including a quarter of its pilots, and weather the collapse in air travel under the coronavirus continued to seep out.
The FTSE 100 index of Britain’s biggest firms was down by 144 to 5757 points, wiping out much of the strong gains it had seen this week after signs of several countries easing lockdown measures
Europe’s stock markets sank further on Friday on mounting evidence that the global economy is reeling from the devastating coronavirus crisis, dealers said. London’s benchmark
index fell 2.1 percent to 5,775.24 points, Frankfurt’s DAX lost 2.2 percent 10,861.64 and the Paris CAC 40 shed 2.1 percent to 4,572.18, compared with the closing levels on Thursday.