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UK stocks slumped on Tuesday as US President Donald Trump rattled markets again, warning there is no deadline for doing a deal with China, threatening 'substantial' taxes to French goods and bemoaning an 'unfair trade situation' with the EU. The FTSE's fall was exacerbated by gains for the pound as the latest Kantar poll put the Tories 12 points ahead of Labour.
At 16.35, London's blue chip benchmark was down 127.18 points or 1.75% at 7,158.76.
LARGE AND MID CAP RISERS AND FALLERS
Cinema chain Cineworld cheapened 2.9% to 200p as it warned that trading for the full year would be slightly below its expectations due to a weaker box office.
The company, however, also said that integration benefits from recently-acquire US unit Regal were greater than anticipated, with estimated run-rate cost savings increased from to $190m from $150m.
Plumbing and heating products distributor Ferguson fell 2.6% to £64.88, as it reported a 4.7% rise in underlying trading profit in the first quarter of its financial year amid 2.5% growth in revenue.
Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca softened 1.2% to £73.32, having agreed to sell the commercial rights to its schizophrenia and bipolar disorder drugs in the US and Canada to Cheplapharm Arzneimittel for up to $41m.
Online fashion retailer Boohoo added 2.7% to trade at 307.7p on announcing a 'record' performance across the Black Friday weekend.
Low-cost carrier Wizz Air weakened 16p to £39.33 despite flying 24% more passengers in the month of November on-year, as it added new routes to Georgia, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine.
Gold miner Centamin shot up 15% to 128.9p after it received an all-share merger proposal from Canadian gold giant Endeavour Mining Corp.
SMALL CAP RISERS AND FALLERS
Optical components and systems maker Gooch & Housego edged 1% higher to £12.65 despite a downturn in demand for critical components in China amid the US-Sino trade war denting annual profits, as the board expressed confidence the company is 'well positioned to deliver progress in full year 2020 and beyond'.
Pawnbroker Ramsdens firmed 3% to 206p as it reported a 23% rise in first-half profit, driven by increased jewellery sales and foreign exchange income.
Fitness club company The Gym Group shed 5.5p to trade at 260p on announcing that it expected to open five-to-eight new smaller format outlets during 2020.
Computing products manufacturer Solid State gained 9.6% to 517.5p after it hiked its dividend 25% while posting a much improved first-half profit.
Software company Oxford Metrics sparked up 5.7% to 93.5p as it posted a 1.9% rise in annual profit, driven by higher sales at motion capture system unit Vicom.