FTSE 100 LIVE: Stocks tumble into the red as trade war fears offset slowing UK inflation

Gold prices (GC=F) reached caller highs connected Wednesday, rising 2.5% to $3,322.30. The precious metallic is seen arsenic a harmless concern successful times of turmoil.

It is the archetypal clip it has risen supra $3,300 an ounce, with ANZ raising its year-end terms forecast to $3,600, and six-month forecast to $3,500.

Ole Hansen, caput of commodity strategy astatine Saxo Bank, said:

Financial markets are betting connected an involvement complaint chopped from the Bank of England astatine its May meeting, estimating an 86% probability aft today's ostentation data.

The City has afloat priced successful 3 quarter-point complaint reductions this year.

Matt Swannell, main economical advisor to the EY Item Club forecasting group, said:

Nvidia (NVDA) revealed connected Tuesday nighttime that it would instrumentality a $5.5bn deed aft the US authorities constricted exports of its H20 artificial quality spot to China, a cardinal marketplace for 1 of its astir fashionable chips.

It comes amid an escalating commercialized warfare betwixt the US and China, with some countries introducing steep commercialized tariffs connected each different covering assorted goods.

Nvidia shares plunged astir 6% successful after-hours trading and are inactive down 4.6% successful pre-market commercialized this greeting connected the backmost of the news.

"The [government] indicated that the licence request addresses the hazard that the covered products whitethorn beryllium utilized in, oregon diverted to, a supercomputer successful China," Nvidia said.

A US Commerce Department spokesperson said precocious connected Tuesday that it was issuing caller licensing requirements for exports of chips including Nvidia's H20, AMD's MI308 and their equivalents.

"The Commerce Department is committed to acting connected the president's directive to safeguard our nationalist and economical security," said the spokesperson of the section that oversees US export controls.

On Monday, Nvidia said it was readying to physique AI servers worthy arsenic overmuch arsenic $500bn successful the US implicit the adjacent 4 years with assistance from partners specified arsenic TSMC, successful measurement with the Trump administration's propulsion for section manufacturing.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the quality of ostentation falling for a 2nd period successful a enactment is simply a "sign" that the government's program is working.

Reacting to March's ostentation rate, Reeves said "wages increasing faster than prices and affirmative maturation figures" are encouraging but added that there's "more to beryllium done".

The ONS said falling substance prices and level costs for recreation and civilization activities drove ostentation lower, though this was offset by terms rises for covering and footwear. The terms of nutrient was besides a origin successful dragging down prices arsenic it stayed level successful March having risen a twelvemonth ago.

The mean terms of petrol fell by 1.6p a litre betwixt February and March to basal astatine 137.5p a litre, down from 144.8p a litre successful March 2024, the ONS said.

Robert Wood, main UK economist astatine Pantheon Macroeconomics, said: “Weekly centrifugal fuels terms information constituent to a 1.1% month-to-month fall, good beneath the 1.9% summation a twelvemonth ago.

“A basal effect from intoxicant and baccy prices a twelvemonth agone should subtract different 3 ground points (0.03 percent points) from header CPI inflation.”

UK ostentation fell much than expected successful March for the 2nd period successful a enactment acknowledgment to little substance prices and softer edifice rates.

According to Office for National Statistics (ONS) data, the user terms scale (CPI) measurement of ostentation fell to 2.6% from 2.8% successful February and 3% successful January.

This means that prices person been rising astatine the slowest gait since December and are person to the Bank of England's 2% target.

“Inflation eased again successful March, driven by a assortment of factors including falling substance prices and unchanged nutrient costs compared with the terms rises we saw this clip past year,” ONS main economist Grant Fitzner said.

It was a steeper driblet than predicted by economists, who had expected a speechmaking of 2.7% for March. It marks the lowest speechmaking since December.

Closely watched measures of underlying inflationary pressures each fell. Core CPI, which excludes energy, food, intoxicant and baccy came successful astatine 3.4%, down somewhat from 3.5%.

However, the driblet is expected to beryllium short-lived arsenic a raft of increases to household bills kicked successful astatine the commencement of April.

Stocks successful Asia were mostly little overnight aft tech elephantine Nvidia (NVDA) announced it had been dragged into Donald Trump’s commercialized war.

The spot shaper Nvidia’s shares person fallen astir 7% successful pre-market trading aft it revealed that the US had imposed stricter controls connected its exports of 1 of its machine chips designed for usage successful artificial intelligence.

Stocks successful China led the determination declines aft the Chinese authorities reported the world’s second-largest system revealed maturation slowed to 1.2% successful the archetypal 3 months of the twelvemonth from 1.6% successful the past 4th of 2024.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng (^HSI) dropped 2.1%, portion the Shanghai Composite scale (000001.SS) managed to eke retired a 0.3% gain. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 scale (^N225) shed 1% connected the day.

South Korea’s Kospi (^KS11) fell 1.2%, portion successful Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 (^AXJO) ended flat

Across the pond connected Wall Street, the 3 main indexes closed down connected a uncommon quiescent time for fiscal markets.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) fell 0.2% to 5,396.63, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) mislaid 0.4%, finishing astatine 40,368.96, and the Nasdaq (^IXIC) edged down by little than 0.1pc, closing astatine 16,823.17.

In the enslaved market, the output connected benchmark 10-year US Treasury notes fell to 4.339% from 4.352% precocious connected Monday.

Good morning, and invited backmost to our markets unrecorded blog. As accustomed we volition beryllium taking a heavy dive into what's moving markets, and each that's happening crossed the planetary economy.

Here's a speedy look astatine what's connected the docket for today:

• 7am: Trading updates: WHSmith, Hunting, Hays, Bunzl, Gear4Music

• 7am: UK Consumer Price Index, Producer Price Index

• 9am: Eurozone ostentation last for March

• 12pm: US MBA Mortgage Applications

• 12.30pm: US Retail income for March

• 1.15pm: US Industrial accumulation for March

• 1.45pm: Bank of Canada involvement complaint decision