London stocks dip after China numbers; U.K. inflation data on tap
U.K. stocks dropped on Tuesday, with commodity-related shares pressured after Chinese export data highlighted concerns about a downturn in the world’s second-largest economy.
The FTSE 100 dropped 0.65% to 6,330.03. The fall was led by pullbacks in the basic materials and oil and gas sectors, which are sensitive to economic data from China, a major buyer of natural resources and related products.
Data released earlier showed that China's trade surplus widened to $60.3 billion last month from $60.2 billion in August, compared to estimates for a surplus of $46.8 billion.
Chinese exports slumped 3.7% from a year earlier, better than forecasts for a decline of 6.3%, while imports dropped 20.4%, far worse than expectations for a drop of 15.0%.
Among miners, shares of Glencore PLC were down 4.7% and Anglo American PLC lost 3.2%.
Oil major Royal Dutch Shell PLC shares dipped 2.1%.
Meanwhile, SABMiller shares rose 9% after the beermaker’s board agreed to the key terms of a sweetened potential takeover offer by rivla Anheuser-Busch InBev NV. A deal would value SABMiller at £68 billion.
In the banking sector, shares of Barclays PLC were lower 1.4%. The lender is expected to name Jes Staley, a former J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. executive, as its next CEO.
In the currency market, GBP/USD was 0.34% lower at 1.5297 and EUR/GBP was at 0.7453, up 0.74%.
Market players will watch for U.K. inflation figures for September, due at 9:30 a.m. London time, or 4:30 a.m. Eastern Time.
