FTSE falls after Easter break following yesterday's Wall Street jitters

The FTSE 100 index fell by 0.7 per cent after opening this morning following yesterday's share rout on Wall Street.

The index opened on 7,056 points and fell to just below 7,000 points before recovering to 7,003 points at the time of writing.

AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould said: "The FTSE 100 is struggling once again as the markets reopen on Tuesday, trading 0.6% lower at 7,012. Insurers and utility companies are the principal sectors weighing on the index.”

The fall follows a turbulent day on US markets yesterday as fears of a global trade war and bearish sentiment towards technology stocks led to a stock sell off.

The S&P closed 2.23 per cent down last night, the Down Jones by 1.9 per cent, while the tech-focused Nasdaq closed down 2.74 per cent.

Both the pound and the Euro were up against the US dollar today with the Euro up 0.18 per cent against the dollar and the pound up 0.26 per cent against the dollar.

US President Donald Trump launched a Twitter tirade against Amazon over the weekend, leading to a five per cent drop in its share price, wiping over $35bn (£24.9bn) from its market value.

Trump attacked the retail giant arguing that it is abusing the US post office network and underpaying tax.

Amazon “should pay real costs (and taxes) now!” Trump wrote.

However, the biggest loser on the Nasdaq yesterday was chipmaker Intel which saw its shares fall by more than six per cent amid reports that Apple will stop using its services and bring chipmaking in-house from 2020.

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