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Chris Beauchamp, chief market Analyst at online trading platform IG, said:

Bellwether commodity copper is down around 5% today, dragging miners down with it.

Reuters reported:

Apple (AAPL) saw its market value plunge by more than $300bn on Thursday, making it one of Wall Street’s biggest casualties following Donald Trump’s latest tariff offensive.

Shares in the iPhone maker fell more than 9% by the close of trading in New York on Thursday, wiping out its market capitalisation, which dropped from $3.36tn to $3.05tn (£2.59tn to £2.35tn)— marking its largest one-day valuation loss on record. The stock rebounded slightly in pre-market trading, and it is currently hovering just above the flatline.

Trump's tariff push targeted Apple’s (AAPL) key suppliers and manufacturing hubs across Asia, including China, Taiwan, India, and Vietnam, imposing hefty new tariffs on goods imported to the US. This move threatens to disrupt the production of nearly every Apple product, from iPhones to iPads, Macs, and accessories.

The bulk of Apple’s (AAPL) iPhones are manufactured in China, which has been slapped with a 54% tariff. If these tariffs remain in place, Apple faces a difficult decision: absorb the extra costs or pass them on to consumers.

The launch price of the cheapest iPhone 16 model in the US was set at $799. However, according to calculations from analysts at Rosenblatt Securities, the price could surge by up to 43%, potentially driving the cost of the phone to $1,142 if Apple is able to shift the burden onto customers.

For the higher-end iPhone 16 Pro Max, which boasts a 6.9-inch display and 1 terabyte of storage, the price could jump from its current retail price of $1,599 to as much as $2,300, should a 43% increase be passed down to consumers.

Read more on Yahoo Finance UK

Some say that a large number of cranes on the horizon in any city is a good indicator of economic growth... a phenomenon which is currently eluding the UK's construction sector, which saw its third month of declines in March, according to new S&P Global data.

The monthly PMI also clocked a reduced number of job openings and input cost inflation at its highest level for 26 months.

The index posted 46.4 in March, up from a 57-month low of 44.6 in February but still well below the neutral 50 threshold.

Sluggish demand conditions contributed to another marked deterioration in construction order books. Lower levels of incoming new work have been recorded throughout 2025 to date. Construction companies often noted a lack of sales enquiries and greater competition for new work, the release said.

Oil major BP's chair Helge Lund will step down next year, the company said.

Lund, who has been at the helm since 2019, has faced calls by BP's shareholders to overhaul the company's strategy, including a board shakeup. Notorious hedge fund Elliott Management is among the chorus pushing for change.

"Having fundamentally reset our strategy, BP’s focus now is on delivering the strategy at pace, improving performance and growing shareholder value. Now is the right time to start the process to find my successor and enable an orderly and seamless handover," said Lund.

“We are starting a comprehensive search to identify chair candidates with the credibility and relevant experience to lead the board and continue driving management’s safe execution of the reset strategy," said Amanda Blanc, the boss of Aviva and a senior independent director at BP, who is leading the search for a replacement.

AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould said:

Pedro Goncalves writes:

Shares of footwear and sports apparel giant Nike plunged more than 14% on Thursday following Trump’s announcement of sweeping tariffs on trading partners, erasing $13.9bn in market value.

Starting 5 April, all imports will face a baseline tariff of 10%. On 9 April, an additional rate will be applied to goods from about 60 countries. China, in particular, will see a 34% reciprocal tariff on top of the existing 20% tariff, bringing the total to 54%. Vietnam will face a 46% tariff, while Indonesia will see a 32% duty.

Nike’s supply chain is heavily dependent on these countries. Factories in Vietnam, Indonesia and China produce approximately 50%, 27%, and 18% of Nike Brand footwear, respectively. Additionally, about 28%, 16%, and 15% of Nike Brand apparel is manufactured in Vietnam, China and Cambodia, respectively.

"What president Trump presented ... was a little bit more aggressive than what I think many people were hoping," Telsey Advisory Group's Joe Feldman told Yahoo Finance. Many retail companies "thought they were off the hook for a while because they didn't have a lot of exposure to China, or not a lot to Canada, Mexico ... [they're] clearly rethinking everything right now".

Vicky McKeever writes:

Gold prices dipped on Friday morning, as investors weighed the developments around trade tariffs.

Gold futures (GC=F) fell 0.1% to $3,118.20 per ounce at the time of writing, while the spot price declined 0.4% to $3,102.82 an ounce.

Pete Walden, managing director of BullionByPost, the UK’s largest online bullion dealer, said: "Ordinarily, this kind of uncertainty would support a rally in gold. After all, gold is traditionally seen as the ultimate safe haven asset — a store of value when other investments falter."

"In extreme market downturns, gold can sometimes fall alongside equities — not because it’s lost its appeal, but because investors need to raise cash quickly," he said. "Many are forced to sell hard assets like gold to meet margin calls on stock positions.

"We saw this clearly in early 2020, during the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, when gold prices dropped sharply as markets crashed," Walden added. "But that dip was short-lived. Once the immediate need for cash eased, gold rebounded rapidly and went on to reach record highs, reaffirming its role as a long-term safe haven."

JP Morgan is ramping up its bets for the chances of a global recession, increasing its prediction from 40% to 60%.

Reuters wrote:

The pound is struggling against the dollar this morning, dipping 0.7% to the $1.30 mark following a rally earlier in the week.

Currency pairings are fragile against the dollar today following the tariff impositions.

The dollar index (DX-Y.NYB), which tracks the greenback against a basket of currencies was also 0.4% higher.

Investors are increasing their bets on interest rate cuts by major central banks in an effort to stave off a potential global recession.

On Thursday, investors piled on more expectations for a rate cut by the BoE, driven by concerns over the damage to trade and economic growth caused by Trump's tariff decision

Futures markets suggest a reduction of approximately 60 basis points (bps) to the BoE's benchmark Bank Rate by December.

This marks an increase from the 54 bps expected just a day earlier, effectively pricing in two quarter-point rate cuts. The likelihood of a rate cut in early May has also risen, now standing at 77%.

At present, UK interest rates sit at 4.5%. However, the central bank has been cautious about further cuts, citing growing global trade uncertainty as one of the reasons it refrained from reducing rates last month.

Losses on the stock market have led to billionaires taking a total $208bn financial hit, according to Bloomberg, with Tesla (TSLA) founder Elon Musk's book $11bn lower, Meta's (META) Mark Zuckerberg down $17.9bn and Amazon (AMZN) CEO Jeff Bezos down $15.9bn.

The figures come from Bloomberg's Billionaire index.

The government published a long list of products the UK exports to the US that could be considered for higher levies, including:

• Livestock such as horses and cows

• Various meats

• Drinks, including whiskey

• Furniture

• Toys

• Boats and boat parts

• Cars and car parts

• Bicycles

• Minerals and oils

US stock futures dipped after President Trump's announcement of broad reciprocal tariffs sent markets into a tailspin.

Futures attached to the Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM=F), the benchmark S&P 500 (ES=F), and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (NQ=F) fell 0.2%.

Here's what was announced by the way of higher duties:

12:43

Hello from London. There's been chaos in the markets overnight as traders grapple with the potential economic impacts of tariffs.

Otherwise there's not much on the slate today in the way pf economic releases other than UK construction PMI releases and US jobs data.

Let's get to it.