Markets tumble as impatience mounts over Trump’s policies – business live

Investors are not happy at all this morning. Losses are widening across Europe on fears that Trump is not going to be able to deliver on his policy pledges.

Much of the optimism about his policies to boost US (and therefore global) growth has already been priced into markets since his election, with Wall Street and European markets hitting record highs. But as President Trump deals with the reality of governing, it seems determination alone is not enough to push through his flagship policies.

If Trump hasn’t yet managed to overhaul Obamacare – his key priority – won’t his promises on tax giveaways and infrastructure spending get kicked into the long grass?

Connor Campbell, analyst at Spreadex, says markets are in a “sour mood”:

Based on the mess Republicans are making of their healthcare reforms it seems increasingly unlikely that the Wotsit-in-Chief will be able to deliver on his sweeping tax changes and $1 trillion infrastructure spending.

Combine that with the Wall Street Journal, a notably right-leaning publication, claiming that if Trump doesn’t ‘show more respect for the truth’ then ‘most Americans may conclude he’s a fake president’, and the optimism that caused investors to flock to the major indices has been seriously undermined by, well, Trump himself.

The FTSE 100 is down 72 points as the negative sentiment spreads. The mining sector and financials are taking the brunt of it.

Current scores on the board:

• FTSE 100: -1% at 7,306

• Germany’s DAX: -0.8% at 11,871

• France’s CAC: -0.8% at 4,963

• Italy’s FTSE MIB: -1.1% at 19,706

• Spain’s IBEX: -0.9% at 10,126

• Europe’s STOXX 600: -0.8% at 373

The pound is just about holding on to the gains it made against the dollar on Tuesday following the sharp rise in UK inflation to 2.3% in February from 1.8%.

In theory, the acceleration of inflation brings forward the prospect of a UK interest rate rise and adds weight to the decision by Kristin Forbes – member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee – to vote for a hike at the March meeting (she was outvoted).

The pound is also being supported by dollar weakness, and is currently flat at $1.2477. It is also up 0.1% against the euro at €1.1550.

European markets have opened lower, as fears ripple across the Atlantic over Trump’s ability to push through growth-boosting policies:

• FTSE 100: -0.6%

• Germany’s DAX: -0.8%

• France’s CAC: -0.7%

• Italy’s FTSE MIB: -0.9%

• Spain’s IBEX: -0.7%

• Europe’s STOXX 600: -0.3%

Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the world economy, the financial markets, the eurozone and business.

Shares in Asia are down sharply this morning following Wall Street’s worst day this year. It appears that hopes are evaporating of swift action on the growth-boosting policies promised by President Trump.

With much of the upside already priced in, investors are now coming to the realisation that for all the talk, it might take longer than expected to push through reforms.

Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK, explains:

After the S&P 500 posted its biggest one day fall since last October last year, the question being asked is whether the scales are starting to fall away from investor’s eyes as to whether President Trump will be able to deliver anything close to what has been priced into markets since his election last November.

Even the mistiest eyed optimist appears to be coming to the realisation that even on health care, where there is some form of consensus, reforms are likely to take a lot longer than realised and as such any other programmes like tax and banking reform and infrastructure spending are likely to get pushed further out into the future.

Here is how US markets closed:

• Dow Jones: -1.1% at 20,668
• S&P 500: -1.2% at 2,344
• Nasdaq: -1.5% at 5,333

And in Asia:

• Hang Seng: -1.3% at 24,275
• Nikkei: -2% at 19,041
• Topix: -2% at 1,530

Shares in Europe are expected to open lower this morning:

We will be tracking all the key developments.