UK shares in the red as risk aversion prevails

UK shares inched lower on Tuesday, as worries over protests in Hong Kong, the U.S.-China trade spat and the health of the British economy continued to fuel a risk-off sentiment, even though travel firm TUI rose after quarterly results. The main index edged 0.1% lower as it fell for the third straight session. The mid-cap FTSE 250 gave up 0.2% by 0715 GMT, though online trading platform Plus500 soared 10% after half-year results.

London-listed shares of tour operator TUI advanced 2% after it said robust business outweighed problems with the grounding of Boeing's 737 MAX jets in the third quarter and upheld its annual earnings view.