UK stocks close slightly down

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UK stocks traded slightly lower Monday, following the release of weak Chinese export data that offset positive sentiment inspired by strong US jobs numbers released Friday.

At 16:00, the benchmark FTSE 100 index was down 9.7 points, or 0.1%, at 7,230.

Supermarket giant Tesco rallied 4.5% to 242.7p as it revealed that it was considering selling its businesses in Thailand and Malaysia after receiving 'inbound interest' in the assets.

Mid-cap energy play Tullow Oil tumbled 71% to 40.4p after it downgraded its production guidance for 2020 and the following three years, citing a disappointing performance from key assets in Ghana.

Tullow Oil also suspended its dividend and announced the departures of chief executive Paul McDade and exploration director Angus McCoss.

Power utility National Grid fell 0.2% to 890.7p as it submitted a final business plan to UK regulators that envisaged £7.1bn of network spending over five years.

Engineering group Senior rose 6.5% to 186.6p on confirming media speculation that it was considering a sale of its Aerostructures business, which supplies parts to the aerospace sector.

Healthcare investor PureTech Health dropped 0.8% to 252p after affiliate company Gelesis raised $84.6m to fund the launch of a treatment for obesity.

Subprime lender Provident Financial gained 0.1% to 425.5p on news that it had poached Secure Trust Bank's Neeraj Kapur to be its new chief financial officer, effective 1 April.

Fellow doorstop lender Amigo gained 9.9% to 66.6p, having announced that chief executive Hamish Paton and chairman Stephan Wilcke were both standing down.

Circle Property dropped 1.9% to 201.2p, even as its first-half profit fell, owing to losses on the value of investment properties.

Rental income, however, rose and the company lifted its dividend by 10%.