LONDON MARKETS: FTSE 100 Retreats As Crude Oil Slump Weighs On Commodity-heavy Benchmark

By Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch

BP, Reckitt Benckiser, British American Tobacco among moving shares

London's main stock benchmark headed lower on Wednesday as renewed doubts over a U.S.-Sino trade deal and slumping crude-oil prices undercut global risk appetite.

How are markets performing?

The U.K.'s FTSE 100 lost 0.7% to 7,349.84, after rising 0.3% on Tuesday.

The pound rose 0.2% to $1.2748.

What's driving the markets?

Renewed concerns over a U.S.-China trade deal tamped down enthusiasm for global equities. Trade-deal optimism had been building ahead of a Group of 20 meeting at the end of the month, but President Donald Trump admitted Tuesday he was "holding up" a deal (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/trump-i-have-no-interest-in-trade-deal-until-china-reverses-its-stance-2019-06-11) between the countries.

Oil was the biggest losing sector in London as heavily weighed companies tracked sharp falls in U.S. and Brent crude prices , down over 2% each (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/crude-prices-slide-on-signs-of-rising-us-inventories-2019-06-12). That was after a report showing higher U.S. inventories and ahead of a key government report on supplies data due later. BP PLC (BP.LN) (BP.LN) slid over 2%.

What stocks are active?

Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC (RB.LN) climbed 2.5% after the company named Laxman Narasimhan as chief executive (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/reckitt-benckiser-names-laxman-narasimhan-as-ceo-2019-06-12) effective Sept. 1, succeeding Rakesh Kapoor.

British American Tobacco PLC shares fell over 4%. The tobacco giant said business continues to perform well (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/british-american-tobacco-upbeat-for-full-year-2019-06-12) in the first half of fiscal 2019 and that it is on track to deliver a good performance for the full year.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 12, 2019 09:22 ET (13:22 GMT)

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