US markets fought back from early declines to finish broadly higher on Friday for the first time in four sessions.

Nobody knows the way it feels, caught between heaven and the highway, shipping steel. So sang the gravel-throated Australian vocalist Jimmy Barnes. Investors, though, have discovered the feeling of being caught out by Trump administration’s plan to impose heavy tariffs on steel and aluminium imports.

Travellers to and from the north-east US saw thousands of flight cancellations and train delays on Friday as snow, rain and high winds hit transport services.

US Treasuries yields are higher on Friday in the wake of a possible hint from Haruhiko Kuroda about the Bank of Japan’s possible exit from years of ultra-loose monetary stimulus.

Leo Varadkar, Ireland’s premier, said Mrs May had provided important reassurances, including restating her goal of a very close relationship with the EU.

But he pressed for concrete plans from London. “I remain concerned that some of the constraints of leaving the customs union and the single market are still not fully recognised,” Mr Varadkar said.

Foot Locker sent fresh jitters through the once high-flying world of sports apparel retailing on Friday after it blamed slumping demand in the all-important basketball shoe market for weak quarterly sales and warned that the trend will continue until the middle of this year.

US stocks have trimmed early declines on Friday in an effort to prevent a four-day losing streak.

A real estate group has lost a legal appeal against Royal Bank of Scotland over claims it mis-sold interest rate swaps and manipulated an interest rate benchmark that underpinned the products.

BlackRock, the $6.3tn asset manager that is the world’s largest owner of global equities, sent a memo to clients on Friday offering to explore opportunities to switch them into funds that specifically screen out firearm manufacturers and retailers.

Virtu Financial, the high speed trader, on Friday moved to disassociate itself from VirtCoin, which was using Virtu’s logo on a website describing a cryptocurrency operation.

JCPenney shares took a spill on Friday after the department store chain posted disappointing sales during the crucial holiday period and announced job cuts aimed at reducing costs and simplifying its operations.

The US Department of Justice has charged UK small-cap stockbroker Beaufort and several of its staff with orchestrating securities fraud and money laundering schemes totalling $50m, following a sting led by an undercover FBI agent.

Mothercare, the struggling UK retailer of supplies for parents and young children, has warned that it needs extra help from its lenders in light of the “challenging trading environment”, capping off a grim week for British high street chains.

Michel Barnier, the EU’s Brexit chief, has “welcomed” a major speech from Theresa May where she set out her ideas for the UK’s future EU relationship.

Wall Street’s popular measure of volatility has risen to its highest level in almost three weeks as the equities sell-off continues.

Investors’ risk appetite has been curbed by Donald Trump’s announcement of tariffs on steel and aluminium, prompting a widespread sell-off in US equities as the president’s defiant trade-war talk bogged down sentiment and sparked fears that global growth may be knocked off course.

Canada’s economic growth slowed more than expected during the fourth quarter, marking a more muted end to the year following a rip-roaring first half.

Theresa May has warned that the EU and UK will lose some access to each other’s markets as she set out her detailed proposals for a future British trading relationship after Brexit for the first time.

Sports Direct has increased its stake in Debenhams to just under the threshold at which it would be required to make a formal takeover offer, saying it plans to launch a “strategic partnership” with the struggling department store chain.

Security forces have killed at least seven gunmen in Ouagadougou who launched apparent co-ordinated attacks on several targets in Burkina Faso’s capital, including the military headquarters and the French embassy.

Mark Rutte, the Netherlands prime minister, has taken a swipe at the European Commission as he lays out his country’s tough red lines on Emmanuel Macron’s drive to push forward integration in the eurozone.

Electrolux is putting on hold a $250m investment in a cooking factory in Tennessee announced in January, citing concerns over the impact from US President Donald Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminium.

Buyers of aluminium in the US are scrambling to secure supplies of the lightweight metal used in everything from drinks cans to cars after President Trump said he would levy a 10 per cent tariff on all imports.

US stocks are poised to receive another drubbing on Friday after President Donald Trump further stoked concerns by declaring that trade wars can be ‘good’.