Markets hit by China data and trade war fears

London’s top flight joined markets worldwide in dropping into the red as worrying Chinese economic data and fears over the Us-china trade war dented investor sentiment.

The latest figures from China signalled slowing industrial production and retail sales growth last month, raising jitters over the world’s secondlargest economy.

With markets in Europe and across the Atlantic under pressure, the FTSE 100 Index closed 58.5 points or 0.8% lower at 7292.8.

Across Europe, the Dax in Germany ended the session down 0.4%, while the Cac 40 in France was largely flat.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Wall Street was also lower at the time of close in London, down 0.2%, with concerns that trade deal talks between the US and China have hit further snags.

Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets, said: “The latest Chinese economic numbers pointed to another slowdown in industrial production and retail sales in October.

“It would appear that the rebound seen in September was a one-off and likely fuelled by an attempt to front run the imposition of new US tariffs.”

Disappointing data from the UK economy failed to knock the pound, with sterling 0.3% higher at 1.289 US dollars and 0.2% up at 1.17 euros.

This came despite official figures revealing an unexpected 0.1% drop in retail sales last month.

In the FTSE 100, oil giants Royal Dutch Shell and BP were among the list of share fallers as the cost of crude came under pressure.

Shell fell 40p to 2285p and BP dropped 4.5p to 506.3p.