UK shares dip as Trump fails to calm trade nerves

UK stocks retreated on Wednesday, as traders grew weary of mixed signals from US President Donald Trump about the progress of trade talks with China, while Tullow Oil slid after slashing production targets.

The FTSE 100 index, which is impacted by global trade relations because of its international exposure, fell 0.3% by 0850 GMT, trimming some early losses, as its exporter stocks strengthened after the pound dipped.

The jump in exporter shares also helped the bourse outperform the broader European benchmark index. The FTSE 250 index of mid-cap companies fared worse, dropping 0.8% and tracking its worst day in more than five weeks, as sterling lost ground ahead of UK inflation data.

The indicator will be closely watched, as it comes just days after official data showed the British economy grew at its slowest annual pace in nearly a decade in the last quarter.

On the main index, Asia-exposed financials, led by HSBC, weighed the most, as the protests in Hong Kong showed no signs of easing.

Tullow Oil dropped 21% – its biggest one-day fall in 15 years – to the bottom of the mid-cap bourse, after it cut its production outlook amid troubles at its Ghana fields.

Trump, in his speech at the Economic Club of New York on Tuesday, gave no specific updates on the trade talks, but took a swipe at the US Federal Reserve for the pace at which the central bank cut interest rates, calling it “far too slow.”

“Trump said nothing that caught the market off guard, but investors may have been hoping for more substance in his speech,” Tavira Securities’ Keith Temperton wrote.

Investors have been glued to Sino-US trade headlines for any signs of a meaningful headway that would help end the protracted dispute.