Brexit turmoil pulls on FTSE as pound falls

Stocks lost ground as traders braced for a backlash from China over increased US sanctions and ongoing Brexit turmoil.

The FTSE 100 lost 54.73 points to finish the day at 7,143.15 thanks to global trade wars and domestic uncertainty.

David Madden, market analyst at CMC Markets UK, said: “Washington DC added 28 Chinese companies to its Entity List, while China’s government said ‘stay tuned’ as a retaliation is presumably in the pipeline.” Brexit woes continued to pull on UK stocks, with Fiona Cincotta, senior market analyst at City Index, adding: “Brexit-vulnerable stocks such as the house builders and domestic focused banks dominated the lower reaches of the FTSE.”

Recruitment groups also saw shares tumble after laying bare the impact of Brexit and global political uncertainty on the jobs market. Robert Walters lost 5.5 per cent to close at 463p while Pagegroup closed 11.9 per cent lower at 367.8p.

The pound fell 0.7 per cent against the dollar to $1.2205 and was down 0.5 per cent against the euro at €1.1143

In company news, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing has dropped its £32 billion takeover pursuit of the London Stock Exchange Group.

HKEX said it would not be making a firm offer after failing to win over the LSE board, with reports that major shareholders were also unconvinced. LSE lost 5.8 per cent to 7,020p.

A cut-throat market slashed into Shell’s profit as the oil major forayed into the energy supply market last year. Shell “A” and “B” shares closed lower.