Trump slump sends FTSE 100 to its lowest point so far in 2017
LONDON - The FTSE 100 is at its lowest level of 2017 on Monday and stock markets across Europe are falling, reacting to President Donald Trump's travel ban policy enacted over the weekend.
The FTSE 100 is down 0.81%, or 58.24 points, to 7,126.25 at 9.45 a.m. GMT (4.45 a.m. ET). While it may not sound like a major fall, it takes Britain's index of leading shares to its lowest point so far this year and a level not seen since the tail end of 2016.
The slump is also notable because the pound is actually falling on Monday, down 0.15% against the dollar. Normally when sterling is weak the FTSE 100 gets a boost as most of the companies on the index denominate their earnings in dollars so stock looks cheaper.
On the bright side, the FTSE is still higher than at any point in the second half of 2016. Here is how it looks in context:
The finger of blame for Monday's slump is being pointed squarely at US President Donald Trump. The President signed an executive order on Friday banning people from seven majority Muslim countries - Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen - from travelling to the US.
The move has caused confusion in the US, widespread protests, and condemnation from public figures around the world. It has also lead to a petition calling for Trump not to be given an official State Visit to the UK, which has attracted close to 1 million signatures.
Connor Campbell, a financial analyst at SpreadEx, says in an email on Monday morning: "Pretty much everything slipped into the red this morning, the markets reacting to the fresh bout of instability brought on by Donald Trump over the weekend.
"Though the Trump rally may have lifted the markets to their current peaks, the global outrage that has greeted the President's first week in office, the most recent instance being the well-placed disgust at his Muslim travel ban, is now beginning suppress investors' appetites especially since, as mentioned, the indices are trading so high."
Here is how the rest of Europe's major stock markets look at just after 10.00 a.m. GMT (5.00 a.m. ET):
