Comments by Trump weigh on FTSE 100

The FTSE 100 led European stock markets lower as international trading was subdued by comments from US president Donald Trump on the state of negotiations with China.

Mr Trump had threatened he could impose further tariffs on China if it does not conclude trade talks with a deal soon. “If we don’t make a deal with China, I’ll just raise the tariffs even higher,” he said on Tuesday.

The comments weighed on the FTSE 100 yesterday, helping send it down 0.84% to 7,262.49.

It was at the forefront of a retreat of some of Europe’s biggest indices, with Germany’s Dax down 0.48%, and the Cac index of Paris-listed shares falling 0.25%.

“To add to the mix, the US Senate passed a bill backing the human rights of the people in Hong Kong, and that has annoyed the Chinese government. The unrest in the financial hub has been widely reported, and it appears the US government are keen to see a return to normality to the region,” said David Madden, an analyst at CMC Markets.

Oil prices jumped over the day, with international standard Brent crude gaining 2.5% to 62.46 dollars.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Scottish Mortgage, up 8.5p to 519.00p, AB Foods, up 22p to 2,458.00p, Rightmove, up 5.4p to 611.80p, Evraz, up 3.2p to 363.70p, and Auto Trader, up 2.8p to 539.00p. The biggest fallers were Kingfisher, down 14.8p to 194.00p, Pearson, down 25.2p to 642.00p, NMC Healthcare, down 97p to 2,497.00p, Aviva, down 14.8p to 403.50p, and Sage Group, down 22p to 720.00p.