UPDATE 2-Oil majors, poor earnings hammer FTSE 100

* FTSE 100 down 0.6%, FTSE 250 down 0.2%
* Oil firms drag on main index
* Chemicals co Johnson Matthey slumps 5.4%
* Builder Galliford up on positive forecast

(Adds company news items, updates shares)
By Shashwat Awasthi and Muvija M
July 17 (Reuters) - The FTSE 100 index tumbled on Wednesday
amid sharp falls in oil majors as investors priced in an
overnight slide in crude to one-week lows, while downbeat
trading updates knocked chemicals group Johnson Matthey and
miner Fresnillo .
Shell RDSa.L and BP BP.L slipped 1.5% and 2.9%
respectively, and were the biggest drags on the blue-chip index,
pulling the FTSE 100 .FTSE 0.6% lower even as global oil
prices recovered some ground. The midcaps .FTMC dipped 0.2%.
Johnson Matthey JMAT.L skidded 5.4% - its biggest one-day
fall in nearly four years - to the bottom of the main index
after it said profit at its Clean Air business, which provides
the lion's share of its earnings, would fall this year.
Fresnillo FRES.L also slid 2.8% after it cut its annual
production targets, citing lower-than-expected ore grades and
construction delays at a gold mine in Mexico. Investor appetite for riskier assets was also put off by
U.S. President Donald Trump's comments that the United States
still had a long way to go to close a trade deal with China.

"Some of the hesitation seen in U.S. markets (from
U.S.-China trade tensions) will spill over to the UK as well,
with concerns that economic weakness is beginning to deepen even
as central banks look to respond with easing," IG Markets
analyst Chris Beauchamp said.
The falls across oil stocks, banks and miners more than
offset gains for exporters like Imperial Brands IMB.L and
Diageo DGE.L , which benefited from the pound's slide to a
two-year low against the dollar, the product of both Brexit
concerns around the Conservative leadership election and a run
of U.S. data which has bolstered the greenback. GBP/
Though sterling recovered slightly later on, exporters still
managed to hold on to the day's gains.
Seeking to woo voters on the right, both Boris Johnson and
Jeremy Hunt have indicated they could take Britain out of the
European Union without a deal at the end of October, potentially
sparking chaos at British ports and hammering growth.
"It is increasingly looking like there is going to be
something far scarier than ghouls and ghosts on Halloween 2019:
a no-deal Brexit," Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell said.
Brexit jitters have taken a heavy toll on the housing and
construction market, with mid-cap builders Galliford GFRD.L
among those first in the firing line.
Its shares added 3.1%, among top risers on the mid-cap index
on Wednesday, after it forecast annual pretax profit in line
with analysts' estimates, a sign it was managing to ride out the
worst of a downturn in housing sales and prices. Luxury brand Burberry BRBY.L rose another 3% and scaled a
record high following a slew of rating upgrades, a day after
posting its biggest one-day gain on the back of robust
first-quarter sales. Among smallcaps, Saga SAGAG.L surged 14% after activist
investor Elliott revealed a stake in the tourism and insurance
firm, less than a month after it flagged concerns around its
tours business.