Concerns turn Footsie ‘deep shade of red’

London’s top-flight stocks were under pressure amid yet more fears over a Us-china trade war.

The FTSE 100 closed 1.24 per cent or 95.85 points lower at 7,652.91, while markets in France and Germany were also knocked, after the Trump administration announced fresh plans for tariffs on Chinese goods.

Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell said the FTSE “remained a deep shade of red as Wednesday went on… as its trade war-fearing commodity stocks dragged it lower”.

Sterling was muted during the session after data showing that in July, Britain’s manufacturing sector grew at its weakest rate in 16 months.

In the afternoon, the pound was up 0.2 per cent against the euro at €1.124. Sterling was flat against the dollar at £1.312.

In UK stocks, Lloyds Banking Group was lifted 1.03p to 63.41p, attributing its 23 per cent rise in half-year profits to a cost-cutting drive, and despite taking a restructuring charge and £550 million PPI hit.

Surging demand for summer clothing helped retail chain Next grow sales by 2.8 per cent as Britons sweltered in the recent heatwave, but the firm’s shares slumped 7 per cent or 424p, making it the biggest faller on the FTSE 100.

BAE Systems posted a fall in profits as it kickstarted talks with the Australian government over its £20 billion contract to build warships.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 included Smurfit Kappa Group, up 86p to 3,216p, Shire, up 53p to 4,404p, and Schroders, up 29p to 3,142p. The biggest fallers included Glencore, down 12.65p to 321.85p, Rentokil, down 12.7p to 326.6p, and Rio Tinto, down 142.5p to 4,054p.