London close: Stocks slide as Trump threatens 'massive' tariffs on China

(Sharecast News) - London stocks ended sharply lower on Friday, having extended losses into the close after US President Trump threatened a "massive" tariff hike on China in a dispute over rare earth metals. Having been just slightly weaker for most of the day, the FTSE 100 fell sharply on the back of Trump's threats, ending down 0.9% at 9,427.47.

In a very long post on Truth Social, Trump said he might cancel an upcoming meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in response to Beijing's latest move to restrict exports of rare earth magnets and raw materials.

"There is no way that China should be allowed to hold the World 'captive', but that seems to have been their plan for quite some time, starting with the 'Magnets' and, other Elements that they have quietly amassed into somewhat of a Monopoly position, a rather sinister and hostile move, to say the least," Trump wrote.

The US President said he was still considering his next move, but suggested one option on the table was a "massive increase" of tariffs on Chinese products coming into the US.

"There are many other countermeasures that are, likewise, under serious consideration," he added.

On home shores, investors mulled the latest data from the British Retail Consortium, which showed that weak consumer confidence and uncertainty arising from the upcoming Autumn Budget prompted a steeper drop in footfall across the UK's high streets.

According to the monthly BRC-Sensormatic Footfall Monitor, overall footfall fell by 1.8% year-on-year last month, worse than the 0.4% annual decline posted in August.

In equity markets, defence stocks were down, with Melrose Industries, Babcock, BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce all weaker.

Joshua Mahony at Scope Markets said progress towards a ceasefire in Gaza eased geopolitical risk premiums, reducing demand for the sector that had been buoyed by the conflict.

Building products manufacturer Ibstock slumped as it reported weaker-than-expected demand in its core construction markets during the third quarter amid a "more uncertain near-term backdrop".

Ibstock said both clay and concrete revenues were impacted, with second-half sales volumes and adjusted underlying earnings now anticipated to match the first half due to softer market conditions.

Breedon also fell.

Aviva was in the red after a downgrade to 'underperform' at KBW.

On the upside, Sage Group rallied after Citi placed the shares on 'positive catalyst watch' into full-year results in November, saying it expects a better-than-feared update.

Recruitment firm Hays nudged higher after saying it experienced the typical recovery in post-summer activity in its first quarter, but expects ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty to weigh on its performance over the remainder of the year.

Like-for-like net fees declined by 8% year-on-year over the three months to 30 September, with a 5% decrease in temp and contracting fees met with a 13% drop in the permanent side of the business.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "So much bad news was already in the price and there were morsels of good news buried in the statement.

"Chief executive Dirk Hahn appears to be keeping his chin up and the implied message of 'we'll get through this and prosper later on' appears to have been duly noted by the market."