BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - U.K. stocks fell on Wednesday after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to levy even more tariffs against Chinese goods if a trade deal is not reached. Another day of Hong Kong turmoil also rattled investors.
Updating New York's Economic Club on U.S. trade policy, Trump said a significant phase one trade deal with China 'could happen soon' but stressed that he would only accept an agreement that is good for U.S. companies and workers.
The benchmark FTSE 100 was down 40 points, or 0.54 percent, at 7,325 after gaining half a percent the previous day.
Miners were among the worst hit amid lingering uncertainty on whether, and when, the United States and China will agree a long-awaited deal to end their bitter trade dispute. Antofagasta lost 2.3 percent and Glencore declined 2.6 percent.
Pub operator J D Wetherspoon gained around 1 percent. The company reported that for the 13 weeks to 27 October 2019, like-for-like sales increased by 5.3 percent and total sales by 5.6 percent.
Smiths Group advanced 1.6 percent. The engineering company kept its full-year outlook after reporting double-digit growth in first-quarter revenue.
Residential developer Taylor Wimpey fell 1.5 percent. The company said it is on track to deliver full year 2019 results in line with expectations, albeit with slightly higher volumes and slightly lower operating margins than guided at the half year.
Property development and investment company British Land tumbled 2.9 percent after widening its pretax loss in the first half of fiscal 2020.
Oil & gas exploration company Tullow Oil plunged 21 percent after cutting its 2019 oil production and free cash flow forecast for the year.
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