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UK stocks ended lower on Tuesday, with the FTSE 100 falling as investors fretted the country was either heading for a disruptive no-deal Brexit or a general election. Prime Minister Boris Johnson lost his working majority in parliament, helping the pound to rebound, ahead of a House of Commons vote on a possible Brexit delay.
At 16.30, the benchmark FTSE 100 index closed down 21.5 points or 0.3% at 7,260.46.
LARGE AND MID CAP RISERS AND FALLERS
Plumbing and heating products group Ferguson gained 2.2% to £62.72 after it announced a plan to demerge its UK operation and the departure of chief executive John Martin.
Packaging company DS Smith fell 5.2% to 324p as it acknowledged that sales volumes were being impacted by economic uncertainty.
Wagamama and Garkfunkels owner Restaurant Group fell 11.4% to 136.6p, having swung to a first-half loss, despite improving sales, after it took a large impairment charge on the value of its assets.
Healthcare-company investor Syncona rose 5.2% to 241.5p on news that it had injected another £48m into retinal gene therapy group Gyroscope Therapeutic.
Convenience food manufacturer Greencore gained 4.1p to trade at 214p on the £56m acquisition of salads-to-chilled snacks maker Freshtime.
SMALL CAP RISERS AND FALLERS
Inkjet printing technology company Xaar tumbled almost 30% to 62p on announcing that it would write down the value of its assets and delay the release of its first-half results.
Xaar also warned of a weaker-than-expected performance over the remainder of the year.
Flooring retailer Victoria advanced 4.2% to 500p as it announced that its like-for-like revenue, margins and earnings were all tracking 'well ahead' in the current financial year.
Brick and paver maker Michelmersh Brick rallied 6.3% to 92.5p, as it posted a rise in first-half profit and said it expected to exceed market expectations for the full-year.
Computer, power and communications products manufacturer Solid State gained 14% to 490p as it guided for profits for the full year to be 'significantly ahead' of market expectations.
Trinidad and Indonesia focused Range Resources rocketed 185% higher to 0.05p after it agreed to sell assets in Trinidad to LandOcean in exchange for offsetting all outstanding debt owed to the company plus $2.5m in cash.
Recruiter Hydrogen hopped 6.5p higher to 55p as first half results revealed continued strong earnings growth, despite Brexit-related uncertainty and more challenging market conditions in a number of Asian markets.