US animosity towards China spooks market

Global markets retreated as traders became increasingly anxious over relations between the US and China.

The London markets fell into the red before a briefing by President Donald Trump, with protests in Hong Kong and Minneapolis both helping to unsettle traders.

The FTSE 100 closed 142.19 points lower at 6,076.6p.

David Madden, market analyst at CMC Markets UK, said: “Equity traders were worried about the state of Us-china relations before President Trump was due to deliver a press conference.

“Animosity between the two governments has been growing lately as the US are not happy with the way the Beijing administration is treating minority communities.”

The German Dax decreased by 1.34%, while the French Cac moved 1.23% lower.

Across the Atlantic, the Dow Jones slipped but failed to match the level of anxiety shown by its European counterparts.

The price of oil moved higher after an early dip on account of rising inventories in the US, while there were concerns about Russia’s commitment to the steep production cuts that are in place until the end of June.

The price of a barrel of Brent crude oil increased 1.56% to 35.85 US dollars.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Ocado, up 89p at 2,191p, British Land, up 10.1p at 407.3p, Auto Trader, up 11.8p at 558.2p, and United Utilities, up 17.6p at 917.6p.

The biggest fallers of the day were Rolls-royce, down 47.4p at 271.6p, Carnival, down 126.5p at 1,057.5p, Melrose, down 10.7p at 115.15p, and easyjet, down 60p at 680p.