Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on January 20, 2026
2 min readLast updated: January 20, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleUK stocks dropped as Trump threatened tariffs over Greenland, impacting FTSE 100 and increasing market volatility. Precious metals rose as a safe haven.
By Tharuniyaa and Lakshmi
Jan 20 (Reuters) - The UK's FTSE 100 logged its steepest one-day fall in close to two weeks on Tuesday as rising uncertainty over U.S. President Donald Trump's threat of tariffs related to Greenland soured investor sentiment.
The blue‑chip FTSE 100 closed down 0.72%, after touching its lowest level in over a week. The domestically focused mid‑cap index fell 0.6%.
Trump threatened to impose an additional 10% tariffs on imports from eight European countries, including Britain, from February 1 unless the U.S. is allowed to buy Greenland, a Danish territory, heightening volatility across global markets.
"Geopolitical tensions have dented sentiment and cooled early-year exuberance, but they haven't fundamentally altered the global growth or earnings outlook,” said Laura Cooper, senior macro strategist at Nuveen.
Europe is more vulnerable to higher tariffs but defence and infrastructure spending should soften the blow, creating selective opportunities in European banks, Cooper added.
In London, pharmaceutical stocks fell 1.6%. AstraZeneca's 2.6% drop, after the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker said it would delist its American Depositary Shares and debt securities from Nasdaq, made it the biggest drag to the benchmark index.
Life insurers lost the most, down 1.9%.
Conversely, precious metals miners rose 1.8% as gold vaulted past $4,700 an ounce for the first time, while silver hovered near record highs as Trump's tariff threats sparked a flight to safe‑haven assets. [GOL/]
Miners have been among the biggest drivers of the FTSE 100's positive start to 2026, driving it to record highs.
This week at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland's Davos, world leaders, policymakers and corporate executives are scheduled to deliver speeches that could steer market sentiment.
Back home, data showed Britain's jobs market weakened ahead of the government's November budget announcement and wage growth slowed, potentially easing the Bank of England's worries about persistent inflation pressures.
Informa rose 4.5% to top the FTSE 100 after the events organiser launched a £200 million ($269.6 million) share buyback and forecast 6% underlying revenue growth for 2026. The media index led gains, up 2.1%.
(Reporting by Tharuniyaa Lakshmi in Bengaluru; editing by Shinjini Ganguli and Mark Heinrich)
The FTSE 100 is an index that represents the 100 largest companies listed on the London Stock Exchange, reflecting the performance of the UK stock market.
Market volatility refers to the degree of variation in trading prices over time, indicating the level of uncertainty or risk in the market.
A share buyback is when a company purchases its own shares from the marketplace, reducing the number of outstanding shares and often increasing the share price.
Wage growth refers to the increase in the average pay of workers over time, which can impact consumer spending and economic growth.
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