* FTSE 100 down, FTSE 250 down 0.4%
* Financials, oil majors drag on main index
* BAT has worst day in 7 months
* Pendragon tanks to 6 yr low after profit warning
* Majestic Wine gains after report Elliott to bid for
outlets
(Adds news item, graphic, updates to closing prices)
By Shashwat Awasthi
June 12 (Reuters) - London's main index eased as the latest
salvoes in the U.S.-Chinese trade dispute kept investors on edge
and weak demand outlook knocked oil shares, while British
American Tobacco slid after warning of steeper declines in
cigarette sales.
The FTSE 100 .FTSE , up for seven days straight after
falling more than 3% in a global stock market sell-off in May,
and the mid-cap FTSE 250 .FTMC dipped 0.4% on Wednesday.
Oil majors were the biggest drags on the main index as oil
prices slid more than 2%. O/R
Financial stocks also weighed as President Donald Trump
added to the trade nerves by saying he was not interested in a
deal with Beijing unless it agreed to some "major points" in
negotiations, while China declared it was "not afraid of
fighting a trade war". British American Tobacco BATS.L skidded 4.4% on its worst
day in seven months after it warned of steeper declines in
cigarette sales globally mainly due to waning demand in its main
U.S. market. While the blue-chip index's losses last month were driven by
fears that Trump's spats with trade partners were set to weaken
global growth, the rises since have seen markets convinced that
the U.S. Federal Reserve and other central banks will respond
quickly with stimulus if needed.
"The rally has paused and things may get a bit tricky now as
we may well see the market start to think - one may even say
realise - that the Fed is not necessarily going to ride to the
rescue," Markets.com analyst Neil Wilson said.
However, a timid U.S. inflation report seemed to bolster
hopes of interest rate cuts. Reckitt Benckiser RB.L erased earlier losses to end 4.4%
higher. The consumer goods firm named PepsiCo PEP.O executive
Laxman Narasimhan to succeed outgoing chief executive officer
Rakesh Kapoor.
Small-cap car dealership chain Pendragon PDG.L lost more
than a fifth of its value and slumped to a more than 6-1/2 year
low as significant declines in new car and used car
registrations caused it to warn on full-year profit.
Shares of larger peer Auto Trader AUTOA.L shed
2.4% on the FTSE 100.
Shares of sub-prime lender Provident Financial PFG.L
tumbled 6.6% on the mid-caps after Canaccord Genuity cut its
rating to "sell", citing precarious capital position and
dividend risks. AIM-listed Majestic Wine WINEW.L surged nearly 10% after a
Sky News report that activist fund Elliott Advisors had launched
a bid for 200 of the specialist wine retailer's outlets.
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Tobacco stocks underwhelm amid shift to alternative smoking
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