Trump trade tweets send markets lower

Further comments made by US president Donald Trump on trade contributed to falls on European indices.

In a series of tweets, the US president criticised both China and the EU, saying they had been “manipulating their currencies”.

The FTSE 100 closed the session 5.18 points lower at 7,678.79 but markets in France and Germany saw bigger losses.

“Not only lambasting China but the European Union as well, all the while throwing more shade at the Federal Reserve, Trump sparked another round of market chaos on Friday,” said Connor Campbell, financial analyst at Spreadex.

Unilever hit the halfway point of its major share buyback programme after returning around £2.7 billion to investors. The consumer goods giant said it has now completed the first tranche and will launch the second round in order to purchase around £5.4bn worth of shares by year-end. Shares closed the session 31p higher at 4,361.5p.

Shares in Beazley fell 8.5p to 549p after the insurer blamed lower investment returns for sending profits down 64 per cent in the first half of the year.

The firm said it suffered a significant drop in pre-tax profits, which tumbled from £122 million to £44m in the six months to 30 June0.

Experian’s takeover of Clearscore was in the spotlight as the competition watchdog threatened to launch an in-depth investigation into the £275m deal, citing concerns that it could lead to consumers paying more for credit cards and loans. Shares closed flat at 1,933.5p.