Stock market meltdown as £100billion wiped off UK shares amid fears of 'Black Monday' repeat

More than £100billion was wiped off the in the space of minutes as Wall Street braces itself for a possible repeat of 1987’s "Black Monday". ’s ongoing tariff war - and signs that the US President was unwilling to back down - led to stock markets plunging again.

In London, the FTSE 100 slumped nearly 5% within the first 10 minutes of opening. It followed sharp falls in financial markets in Asia. However, all eyes are on the US when its markets open given concerns that President’s Trump’s tariffs are hammering some of its biggest companies and stocking fears of a in the ’s biggest economy. It comes as more than £5trillion was wiped off US markets last week.

Some analysts fear a repeat of ‘Black Monday’, when a slump in US markets in mid-October led to heavy losses worldwide. Jim Cramer, a host on CNBC and a market commentator, said: “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% on Monday, has the most cogency.”

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Monday morning’s fresh shares carnage knocked another £1.8trillion off global markets - even before the start of trading in the US.

President Trump was sticking to his guns over the weekend, insisting the stock market turmoil would pass. Asked about the rapid falls, he claimed “sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something.” Financial markets have ramped-up the chances of interest rates cuts in the US if the economy takes a turn for the worse.

The carnage came as Trump told reporters he would not do a deal with China until the US trade deficit was sorted out. Beijing declared the markets had spoken on their retaliation plans. Investors had thought the loss of trillions of dollars in wealth and the likely body blow to the economy would make Trump 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."

Speaking on Air Force One on Sunday night, Mr Trump suggested he wasn't concerned about the stock market losses, which have had a knock-on impact to those with a pension pot and other small investors. He said: "I don't want anything to go down. But sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something."