Stocks plunge and ex-minister’s Brexit warning

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The world’s stock markets look set for a jittery day after the US’s Dow Jones suffered its worst losses in more than six years on Monday, dragging shares in other countries down. The Dow has recently reached record highs, following signs of improvement in the US economy, but concerns of higher interest rates caused a sell-off and a fall of 1,175 points – or 4.6%.

The UK’s FTSE 100 index was down 108 points – 1.46% – on Monday, and Asian stocks have fallen. Here’s an explanation of why. Analysts say investors should prepare for more volatile markets in the months ahead.

The Dow’s closing level on Monday means it has shed about a third of its gains since Donald Trump became US president last year. But the White House said “long-term fundamentals” in the economy remained “exceptionally strong”. So, why the Dow slump? Have a look at our 90-second explainer.

The strong words exchanged between Conservative MPs over Brexit continue, with pro-European former minister Anna Soubry calling for 35 “hard ideological Brexiteers” to be removed from the party. She urged Theresa May and her colleagues to “get a spine” and said the prime minister’s “red lines” to leave the EU single market and customs union were wrong. Ms Soubry told BBC Two’s Newsnight that she was “not prepared to stay in a party which has been taken over by the likes of Jacob Rees-Mogg and Boris Johnson”.

By Laura Kuenssberg, political editor

Certainly most voters have got many more things to worry about than gender equality in politics. Remember, it took years and years for the campaigns of the suffragettes to cut through. But if we want our politics to represent all of us fairly, consider this: if you are reading this with female eyes then I guess, like me, you’re no stranger to being the only woman in the room. It’s not necessarily bad, or good. Sometimes it doesn’t occur to you at all. But sometimes it is glaringly obvious.

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