FTSE 100 tumbles amid fresh tensions from US-China trade war

Britain's main stock index fell to a one-month low on Tuesday as investors returned from a long weekend to a threat by U.S. President Donald Trump to China on tariffs. Mid-cap security group G4S dropped after Canada's Garda World abandoned its takeover plan. The FTSE 100 was down 0.3 per cent by 0711 GMT after falling as much as 0.7 per cent. Midcaps were 0.2 per cent lower.

Trump's threat to impose additional tariffs on Chinese goods hit Asia-exposed financial stocks. HSBC and Prudential were among the biggest drags on the blue-chip index. Industrial groups Melrose and Ashtead, which are vulnerable to uncertainties in the global market, lost 2.5 per cent and 1 per cent respectively.

On the mid-cap index, Security group G4S slumped 8.2 per cent and headed for its worst day in six months after Garda World said on Sunday it would not make an offer for the company. Shares in Domino's Pizza, Britain's biggest pizza delivery firm, led declines on the FTSE 250. Its shares fell 10.5 per cent after the company said it no longer expects its international business to break even this year.

AIM-listed Purplebricks dropped 7.5 per cent after the online estate agent said its founder and chief executive, Michael Bruce, would quit immediately and the company would wind down its Australian operations and reviews its U.S. business.