Subdued day for markets amid tensions

Yesterday was subdued on global markets as tensions over how China is cracking down on pro-democracy elements in Hong Kong were not enough to push the dial.

The FTSE 100 ended the day up 18.41 points at 6050.59, a 0.3% rise.

It came as China retaliated against US sanctions by placing its own on a series of high-profile Americans, including senators Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz.

They are two of the most recognised Republicans in Washington and both ran for the Republican nomination to be president against Donald Trump in 2016.

Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets, said markets were probably not badly hit because the sanctions were not as wide as they might have been.

The Dow Jones was up 1%, while the S&P 500 increased 0.1% just after European markets closed.

On the Continent, the Dax in Germany rose 0.1% and the Cac in France was up 0.4%.

It was a day of slight gains for the pound, up 0.2% to 1.3086 against the dollar and 0.5% to 1.1132 when swapping for euros.

Oil standard Brent was up 1.5% to 45.09 dollars per barrel.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were IAG, up 16.05p to 201.7p, Melrose Industries, up 6.4p to 107.7p, Rolls-royce, up 13.1p to 265.7p, Evraz, up 16p to 326.3p, and JD Sports, up 25.2p to 684.4p. The biggest fallers were Hargreaves Lansdown, down 79p to 1,786p, Hikma, down 96p to 2,297p, Flutter Entertainment, down 355p to 11,650p, Sage, down 20.2p to 745.2p, and Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust, down 23.5p to 879p.