FTSE 100 on track for its worst day in 11 months, while Japan’s Nikkei and South Korea’s Kospi also fall

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The war in the Middle East has plunged financial markets into turmoil for a second day, with oil and gas prices surging, global stock markets slumping and chances of a UK interest rate cut later this month plummeting.

The London stock market has fallen deep into the red, a gloomy backdrop for the chancellor’s spring forecast at 12.30pm GMT. The FTSE 100 index lost about 280 points on Tuesday morning, falling to 10,501 in a 2.6% drop and leaving it on track for its worst day in 11 months – since Donald Trump’s “liberation day” tariff shock of April 2025. Almost all stocks fell.