Rachel Reeves has jetted off across the Atlantic in a bid to encourage investment in Britain during talks with Wall Street leaders.
The Chancellor is visiting both New York and Toronto in order to ‘bang the drum’ for the UK abroad.
But her trip has coincided with a global stock market rout, with the FTSE 100 plunging as worldwide turmoil started overnight.
London‘s blue-chip index was 2.4 per cent down after the open on Monday falling 193 points to 7,982, in its sharpest fall since July last year.
And Japan‘s Nikkei 225 index suffered its worst day since 1987.
Rachel Reeves has jetted off across the Atlantic to drum up investment in Britain in talks with Wall Street leaders
The FTSE 100 was down more than 2 per cent after opening today amid a global stocks rout
Japan ‘s Nikkei 225 index suffered its worst day since 1987
It camed after US jobs data sparked a global stock market sell-off at the end of last week, with investors spooked at the prospect of a potential American recession.
Analysts said on Friday they feared the US Federal Reserve may have made a mistake by not cutting interest rates, and might now be too late to hold off a recession.
The Nikkei 225 lost 13 per cent on Monday to hit a seven-month low, in a day of trading that was worse than at any time during the 2008 global financial crisis.
The Japanese benchmark index fell 4,451 points to 31,458 on Monday.
During her trip to North America, Ms Reeves will meet with bosses from major US and Canadian industries.
In New York, she will host a reception to celebrate women in finance. And, in Toronto, she will meet with clean energy and infrastructure leaders.
The Chancellor said: ‘I’ve wasted no time in my first month in office in taking the difficult decisions necessary to fix the foundations of our economy, so we can rebuild Britain and make every part of the country better off.
‘That means restoring economic stability so we can attract the investment needed to create good jobs, boost wages, and improve opportunity across Britain.
‘There is no credible plan for growth without private sector investment.
‘That’s why I’m breaking down barriers at home and banging the drum for Britain abroad as we gear up to host the International Investment Summit.’
Commenting on the global stocks rout today, Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at online trading platform IG, said: ‘Markets are in absolute turmoil this morning thanks to the Nikkei 225’s biggest one-day drop since 1987, which has wiped out the index’s gains for the year.’
He said that the FTSE and European stocks were likely to suffer a bad day, while ‘it is on Wall Street where a fresh wave of selling is on the cards’.
‘Investors continue to flee tech stocks, and the Nasdaq 100 is expected to open down 1000 points lower from Friday’s close, a loss of over 5%.’
‘This is a perfect demonstration of what happens when everyone tries to sell at once. Such moves don’t stop in a single day and we likely have a summer of volatility ahead of us, particularly as we await developments in the Middle East.’
The mid-cap FTSE 250 fell by more than 3 per cent. France’s CAC 40 lost 2.6 per cent, while Germany’s Dax dropped 2.8 per cent in early trading.
Oil prices have also slipped. Brent crude prices were down 1 per cent to 76.04 US dollars on Monday morning, its lowest point this year.
Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: ‘The FTSE 100 has opened down as the US sneeze risks becoming a cold.
‘Exporters bore the brunt of the sell-off as contagion from last week’s poor employment and manufacturing data in the States put recessionary fears back on the table.
‘The discussion around September’s rate decision at the Federal Reserve Bank has moved from if to how much, with the odds now moving in favour of a half point cut.’
