Source: Sharecast
The FTSE 100 was down 0.2% to 7,043.03, while the pound was up 0.1% against the dollar and the euro at 1.4051 and 1.1428, respectively.
Stocks had kicked the session off with heavier losses, taking their cue from weakness on Wall Street, after China hit back at President Trump's tariffs by imposing its own tariffs of up to 25% on 128 US imports, including pork and wine. China said the tariffs, which affect around $3bn of imports, were introduced to "safeguard the interests of the country and its industry" and balance the losses caused by the US tariffs.
Rebecca O'Keeffe, head of investment at Interactive Investor, said: "The major fear for markets is that the imposition of retaliatory import tariffs by China could just be the tip of the iceberg and will cause a chain reaction that drags more sectors and countries into the dispute. In a world where China is not willing to turn the other cheek and where President Trump likes to get the last word, the situation is set for further turmoil and the danger for investors is that this will escalate into a broader battle, which could leave few sectors immune to trouble."
Technology stocks also dented the session on Wall Street, which looked set to recover on Tuesday, with Amazon under pressure overnight after Trump said the technology giant is not paying its fair share of taxes and exploiting the US postal service.
O'Keeffe pointed out that each of the major tech companies appears to have its own particular set of problems to deal with.
"Facebook - data security. Intel - Apple chips. Tesla - missed targets compounding fears of excessive leverage. Amazon - President Trump. However, the one thing these companies do have in common is that these stocks are held by most of the big popular global funds. This means that many investors may have substantial exposure, even if they are not direct shareholders, which makes the tech troubles a wider problem."
Still, equities in London managed to pare losses as IHS Markit's manufacturing purchasing managers' index rose to 55.1 in March from a revised 55.0 the month before, beating expectations for a dip to 54.7.
Compared to official data, Markit said this suggested the first quarter as a whole delivered a 0.4-0.5% gain in production volumes, considerably slower than the fourth quarter’s 1.3% growth.
Input cost inflation and output charges eased slightly in March though remained high.
Business optimism held steady at an elevated level, with over 54% of companies expecting output to expand over the coming 12 months.
"The latest PMI survey provided further evidence that UK manufacturing has entered a softer growth phase so far this year," said IHS director Rob Dobson.
"Although the pace of output expansion ticked higher in March, which is especially encouraging given the heavy snowfall during the month, this was offset by slower increases in new orders and employment. Average rates of increase over the opening quarter as a whole are also down noticeably from the growth spurt seen at the end of 2017."
In UK corporate news, Sky was trading higher as Twenty-First Century Fox offered up more concessions in its bid for the broadcaster, proposing either to ringfence Sky News or sell it to Walt Disney.
Randgold Resources gained as it said that intermittent industrial action by the workforce of its mining subcontractor was having "some" impact on operations at its Tongon gold mine, but confirmed the company's 2018 outlook remained within guidance.
Petrofac was up after being awarded a lump-sum engineering, procurement and construction contract by Vedanta Limited valued at around $233m.
Anglo American ticked lower after suspending its Minas-Rio iron ore operation in Brazil following two pipeline leaks were found last month.
AstraZeneca slipped back despite saying that US and European regulators have accepted applications for its cancer treatments, moxetumomab pasudotox and lynparza. A report in The Times that it and Shire have made millions of pounds in "secret" payments to healthcare professionals and organisations was perhaps weighing on the shares.
Spectris retreated after announcing the acquisition of US-based automotive test system and service provider Revolutionary Engineering for $19m.
In broker note action, Intertek and CMC Markets were both upgraded by Shore Capital, while Barclays was lifted to 'buy' at Investec and TP Icap was upped to 'outperform' at Macquarie.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,043.03 -0.19%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,317.27 -0.74%
techMARK (TASX) 3,239.27 -0.75%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Sky (SKY) 1,317.00p 1.50%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,956.00p 1.26%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 2,451.00p 1.03%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,645.00p 0.94%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 4,164.50p 0.81%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 65.14p 0.74%
Micro Focus International (MCRO) 993.40p 0.67%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 185.80p 0.65%
Glencore (GLEN) 355.90p 0.59%
Relx plc (REL) 1,473.00p 0.55%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 429.40p -2.89%
GKN (GKN) 450.90p -2.61%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 697.80p -2.46%
G4S (GFS) 243.32p -1.93%
Mediclinic International (MDC) 590.37p -1.77%
Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) 7,175.00p -1.71%
Severn Trent (SVT) 1,813.50p -1.65%
Prudential (PRU) 1,749.50p -1.63%
Centrica (CNA) 139.95p -1.58%
Evraz (EVR) 427.70p -1.57%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Sirius Minerals (SXX) 31.96p 5.27%
IP Group (IPO) 118.60p 3.49%
Renewi (RWI) 77.38p 3.17%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 519.80p 2.57%
IG Group Holdings (IGG) 816.50p 2.38%
Bakkavor Group (BAKK) 178.00p 2.30%
Ted Baker (TED) 2,556.00p 2.24%
Saga (SAGA) 114.90p 1.86%
Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 291.60p 1.67%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 248.30p 1.64%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Capita (CPI) 135.95p -5.62%
RHI Magnesita N.V. (DI) (RHIM) 4,230.00p -3.86%
Sophos Group (SOPH) 418.00p -3.42%
TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 112.00p -3.28%
Electrocomponents (ECM) 580.60p -3.27%
IWG (IWG) 221.40p -3.19%
Inmarsat (ISAT) 351.60p -2.90%
IMI (IMI) 1,049.00p -2.87%
Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 5,820.00p -2.84%
TBC Bank Group (TBCG) 1,788.00p -2.83%
