The FTSE 100 tumbled again on Monday as the fallout of Donald Trump’s tariffs continued to rock global equities.

The weekend failed to offer any reprieve from the negative sentiment towards stocks, with many analysts and investors now expecting the US to enter a recession later this year.

London’s leading index fell as much as 6% in the early minutes of trade and remained under pressure as the session progressed.

“The US economy is barrelling rapidly towards recession, and will probably end up taking most of the rest of the world with it,” said Michael Brown Senior Research Strategist at Pepperstone.

“Concurrently, inflation is going to ramp substantially higher for the next couple of quarters, at the very least. Here we are then – stagflation.”

The S&P 500 fell more than 10% over two trading sessions at the end of last week – the biggest two-day drop since the beginning of the pandemic. 

Investors continued to dump European stocks on Monday, and US equities looked set to open lower. 

After such sharp declines at the end of last week, some may have expected a bounce, or at least a pause in selling on Monday. However, the fears about a global recession and little commentary for Trump from the White House over the weekend created an overarching sense of nervousness in markets on Monday.

Hedge fund manager Bill Ackman provided some insight into what he thinks should happen next in a social media post, capturing the attention of equity bulls hoping for a change in approach by Donald Trump. The billionaire suggested delays to tariffs could be announced by Trump, allowing time for deals to be made with other countries, although no such sounds have been made by the Whitehouse yet.

One would have to imagine that President @realDonaldTrump’s phone has been ringing off the hook. The practical reality is that there is insufficient time for him to make deals before the tariffs are scheduled to take effect.

I would therefore not be surprised to wake up Monday…

— Bill Ackman (@BillAckman) April 5, 2025

There was a very small and short-lived bounce on Friday when news broke that Trump had a telephone call with Vietnam and discussed the reduction of tariffs. However, claims by the White House that Trump had calls with dozens of other countries over the weekend failed to elicit any meaningful positivity in stocks on Monday. 

Indeed, the initial moves in the FTSE 100 on Monday were nothing short of a bloodbath. All FTSE 100 stocks were down at the time of writing.

Rolls Royce lost another 13% while Glencore sank 12%. Anglo American, Antofagasta, Babcock all fell more than 10%.

The best performers – those with the least declines – were UK-centric housebuilders and supermarkets.

Applied Nutrition has made a strong start to life as a listed company by reporting revenues for the six months to 31 January 2025 that were ahead of guidance provided at the time of the IPO.

Revenues for the period were £47.6m – higher than the £46m the supplements and wellbeing company said they expected to generate at the time of the IPO.

“We are pleased to have announced a positive set of maiden results, ahead of what we said we would do at the time of IPO, with the Company delivering strong growth, expanding globally, and driving innovation in our industry,” said Thomas Ryder, CEO of Applied Nutrition.

“This has been a period of significant milestones and progress – our IPO in October, launching our first TV advert to promote our products starring Coleen Rooney, developing relationships with exciting new customers, and expanding into new geographies. The interest in our brand since our IPO has reached new heights and we are very grateful for the strong support we have received from our customers, partners and shareholders.”

Despite revenues growing in the period, Applied Nutrition’s adjusted Ebitda fell 15% to £13.8m in the period and margins contracted. Operating profit fell 28%.

Applied Nutrition’s shares are down materially from their 140p IPO price. Falling profits and lower margins will do little to encourage the share price back up to the listing price.

The company said it is increasing shelf space with major retailers and growing its social media reach through collaborations with celebrities such as Coleen Rooney. These played a part in higher revenues.

Investors, however, will want to see higher revenues translate into higher profits.

The FTSE 100 showed remarkable resilience yesterday in the initial reaction to Donald Trump’s trade tariffs, outperforming most European and US indices.

However, this resilience disappeared on Friday as FTSE 100 banking shares crumbled, sending the index sharply lower. Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, Standard Chartered and NatWest all fell more than 5%.

Standard Chartered is the FTSE 100’s biggest casualty of the tariffs, losing around 17% of its value over the past week.

There were also losses for mining stocks and oil majors on Friday, which culminated in sending London’s leading index down by more than 3%.

Selling picked up after reports that China would implement 34% retaliatory tariffs on US goods and trade restrictions on rare earths. Investors will fear that more countries follow suit and take retaliatory measures. Some European leaders have been vocal in their support for hitting back at Trump.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump has said he’s open to negotiation. Equity bulls will hope the bookmaker-style charts of tariffs revealed on Wednesday were a PR stunt for his core voter base and an extreme negotiating tactic that will spur favourable trade deals.

Whatever the underlying motives are, markets are taking the tariffs on face value after a period of complacency, and the reaction in global equities has been cataclysmic.

Some economists are now predicting a US recession.

“With markets having suffered their worst week in five years, investors were hiding under their duvet on Friday hoping the pain would go away,” said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell. 

“Unfortunately, the relentless selling continued, with markets falling across Asia and Europe and futures prices implying the US will do the same when trading begins later on.

“There are so many moving parts that getting your head around the situation isn’t easy. With countless sectors set to be hit by tariffs, it’s difficult to know where to begin to comprehend the situation.”

US indices had their worst trading since the pandemic yesterday, and the selling showed little sign of easing. S&P 500 futures were 1% weaker in the premarket.

Legendary investor Bill Gross has warned against buying the dip. It appears, for today at least, investors are taking heed.

Cavendish plc, a leading UK investment bank, has reported expected revenues of approximately £55 million for the financial year ended 31 March 2025, in line with the previous year on a like-for-like basis.

The company maintained profitability throughout both halves of the financial year, demonstrating the appeal of its service offering across public and private markets.

Despite challenging market conditions, Cavendish increased its market share in public markets, completing the last UK IPO of 2024 and the first of 2025.

However, the general malaise in UK public markets has seen Cavendish increase their focus on the UK’s private markets where they have ongoing relationships with 150 UK private equity firms.

The firm said its private markets business delivered particularly strong revenue growth, reflecting the strength of its advisory capabilities and continued demand for high-quality execution in this segment.

Cavendish has recently opened offices in Manchester and Birmingham to strengthen their regional presence and better serve their private market clients.

The company enters the new financial year with £21 million in net cash and more active mandates than at the same point last year.