FTSE 100 crash: Stocks in Rolls-Royce, Barclays, Amazon and McDonalds plummet

London's FTSE 100 index suffered its worst fall in over a year and was trading down 6% at 7,634 as US President Donald Trump continued to insist his decision to slap tariffs on imports was much needed 'medicine'. The index includes the UK's top 100 listed firms which are collectively worth around £2.1 trillion; today's wipeout has so far taken £100bn off their value.

Many of the FTSE 100 companies are held in pension funds on behalf of savers, and there are fears that the crash could wipe out savers' cash forever. Shares in Rolls Royce took one of the biggest hits falling 8% to 604.20p, while Barclays bank's shares dropped 7% to 232.75p drop of nearly 7%. US companies also took a hit with Amazon shares down 4.15% and McDonalds down by 5.71%.

The FTSE 250, widely regarded as a more accurate barometer of the UK economy, was also last trading down over 4.5% at 17,536.

Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreave Lansdown, said: "The FTSE 100 has opened deep in the red, falling more than 5% in early trade, as pessimism spreads about the outlook for world trade.

"While the biggest fall this century was the pandemic-induced 10.8% drop on 12 March 2020, the losses in recent days are steep, an indication of the fear spreading about the implications of the White House approach."

Streeter said Bitcoin, which did appear to be more insulated from the stock market rout, has also been hit by the turmoil.

"The cryptocurrency is down more than 9% in a day, back to below $75,000, for the first time since Trump won the election. He may have promised to make the US, the crypto capital of the world, but high risk-off sentiment is cancelling out optimism about a more clement environment for coins and tokens in the financial system.

"A sea of red on markets will inevitably be troubling for investors. It is however, important not to panic and look at long-term investment horizons. History has shown that markets do recover from times of crisis and high uncertainty."

The panicked mood was also felt across Europe, with Germany's Dax index recording a drop of about 6.5%, and France's Cac 40 down around 5.3% in the morning.

Overnight, Asian stocks across the board were sinking to new lows after Mr Trump said he will not back down on his sweeping import taxes unless countries even out their trade with the US.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has promised to make a raft of reforms designed to provide "certainty" and "support for industry" as firms grapple with the impact of new rules from the White House.

Jaguar Land Rover, one of the UK's biggest carmakers, over the weekend announced that it would "pause" shipments to the US as it addresses the new trading rules.