London’s top stocks edged lower again on Tuesday on the back of concerns over Chinese economic growth and further weakness in the luxury sector.
Burberry shares were once again among the FTSE’s notable fallers after analyst downgrades during the session, following their chief executive’s departure and a financial loss on Monday.
Nevertheless, other retailers were among the strongest performers in the City, with Ocado and B&M finishing with gains after positive reaction to trading updates.
The FTSE 100 finished 18.06 points, or 0.22%, lower to end the day at 8,164.9.
Trading in Europe started on a weak footing on Tuesday morning after slower-than-expected economic growth in China over the second quarter, of 4.7%, led to concerns over global trade.
The Cac 40 in France ended 0.69% lower and the Dax index was down 0.35% at the close.
Axel Rudolph, senior market analyst at IG, said: “Monday’s Burberry and China growth concerns-led rout in UK luxury goods retailers and miners has spread to the continent.”
Mr Rudolph said concerns over Chinese growth had a particular downward impact on energy prices.
He said: “The crude oil price dropped for a third consecutive day to its lowest level in three weeks as the Chinese economy slows down.”
A barrel of Brent crude oil was down by 1.1% to 81.55 US dollars as markets were closing in London.
In the US, the S&P 500 and Dow Jones both lifted towards record levels despite a slowdown in retail sales.
In company news, Ocado finished firmly in the green after it revealed interim losses nearly halved and said annual earnings for its robotic warehouse arm would be better than expected despite delays with some key contracts.
The online grocery group reported a £154 million pre-tax loss for the six months to June 2 against losses of £290 million a year ago.
Shares in the business lifted by 5.9% to 360.5p during the session.
Discount retailer B&M also saw shares climb despite telling investors that wet weather dampened sales in recent months.
The high street group, which also includes its French stores and frozen food chain Heron Foods, said sales rose by 2.4% to £1.3 billion for the quarter as it benefited from the positive impact of new store openings.
B&M opened 19 stores during the quarter, which it said were already performing better than it had expected. Shares finished up 4.3% at 466p.
Vanquis Bank slid in value after warning investors that it took a £40 million hit from bad car loans and other unexpected costs.
Shares in the specialist banking group were down by 6.2% to 49.7p as a result.
Online review platform Trustpilot saw shares tumble after private equity firm Vitruvian Partners offloaded around £27.5 million worth of its stock in the business.
The share sale resulted in a 11.1% drop in its share price to 208.5p at the end of the session.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were B&M European, up 19.4p to 466p, JD Sports, up 4.05p to 118.7p, DS Smith, up 14.6p to 438p, Marks & Spencer, up 9.4p to 309.3p, and Airtel Africa, up 3.6p to 119.6p.
The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Burberry, down 39.4p to 704.6p, Severn Trent, down 125p to 2473p, United Utilities, down 38p to 997p, Glencore, down 12.75p to 458.55p, and Anglo American, down 55p to 2,309.5p.