How could stock market slides affect you?

Global markets are continuing their downward dive today, as investors reel from Donald Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs.

The past few days have been "economic carnage", said The Times, with "trillions wiped off the value of stock markets, dire warnings from businesses, and concerns about rising prices and supply-chain disruption".

All this could put "thousands of jobs in the UK" at stake, not to mention the prime minister's "hopes of galvanising economic growth".

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

What did the commentators say?

Even if you don't personally invest in stocks and funds, the stock-market plunge could still have an "impact on your finances", said Hilary Osborne and Jillian Ambrose in The Guardian. Your pension is "likely to hold some of these assets, unless you are very close to retirement". Pensions are a "long-term game", though, and their value "has seen and will see volatility like this over the years", said Simon Jack, business editor at BBC.

For savers, the advice is "not to panic", said James Baxter-Derrington, investments editor at The Telegraph. "It is precisely in these moments of uncertainty and unease that investors chalk up the biggest losses – and where discipline pays dividends."

Trump's tariffs will also affect the price of goods. While the initial impact will be felt by US consumers, fluctuations in exchange rates could mean "import costs rise for UK firms", and "these extra costs could be passed on to consumers through higher prices", said Michael Race at the BBC.

Some economists have suggested that prices could fall in the short-term, though. A limited trade war could be "very mildly positive" for the UK, David Miles, a member of the Office for Budget Responsibility, told The Times. Exports from countries like China could be diverted from the US to other markets, potentially leading to a flood of cheaper goods.

But "all this comes at a price, in terms of the impact on British businesses and, ultimately, jobs", said The Times' Steven Swinford. Sectors that are big exporters to the US, such as machinery, pharmaceuticals, fishing and electronics, are set to be among the hardest hit.

The 25% tariff on cars could be "particularly problematic for the UK," said Sky News. America "is the UK car sector's largest single market", accounting for £6.4 billion in 2023. More than 25,000 jobs in the UK car manufacturing industry could be at risk, suggested the Institute for Public Policy Research.

What next?

"It may be hard to see any bright spots amid the market turmoil," said Dharshini David, deputy economics editor at the BBC. "But there's a glimmer of hope for British businesses and households."

The movement in the bond market "perhaps points to three more" interest-rate cuts this year. This is still "speculative and subject to change" but, if sustained, it will improve fixed-rate mortgage deals. So, even "as we endure this wild ride, there's a hint of relief for millions of borrowers".