London close: FTSE lower as "Trump effect" wanes, Parliament attacked

Stocks in London ended Wednesday lower as market watchers mulled a waning of the so-called "Trump effect," with traders rightly distracted by a potential lone-wolf terror attack at Parliament.

The area around Parliament and Westminster Bridge were in lockdown after the suspected terror incident. Details of the attack were still emerging. Early reports have multiple casualties, with fatalities among them.

The suspect was reportedly shot by police after he stabbed one of their number. He had allegedly mown down a string of pedestrians on Westminster Bridge.

Multiple market watchers said the attacks had unsurprisingly introduced a note of caution around the City.

It was against this backdrop that the FTSE 100 closed down 0.73% or 53.62 points to 7,324.72, while the FTSE 250 finished the session 0.82% lower at 18,832.94.

"The FTSE remains somewhat steady in the wake of early losses this morning," said IG market analyst Joshua Mahony, noting a general pall of uncertainty after the London attack.

"Despite the fact that we have seen the widespread selling continue apace this morning, the day has largely been dominated by relative calm for the most part of the session," he said.

Mahony and other market watchers noted the re-emergence of fears about a possible unwinding of the recent gains spawned by the so-called "Trump effect".

Jasper Lawler, senior market analyst at London Capital Group, assessed today's fall through a slightly different lens.

"It's overly simplistic to lay the blame for the market decline at Donald Trump's door," he said in a statement.

"The first US rate hike this year, a slump in oil prices, the future of quantitative easing under higher inflation and end of quarter portfolio manoeuvring have played a part in markets changing course," he said.

"Still, the (Donald) Trump Presidency, which has played such a large role in the rise in markets since November, is not to be ignored as a factor."

In the US, the Dow Jones was a slice lower, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were posting minor gains.

In Europe, the Euro Stoxx 50 and Dax were down by small amounts, while the Cac 40 was up a jot.

Back in London, Kingfisher slumped after its full-year results beat market forecasts thanks to strong growth from its Screwfix chain, but the company sounded a cautious note on its outlook.

It was followed down by multiple other sectors, with airlines, financials, commercial property and supermarkets all present among the top-50 blue chip fallers.

Standard Life, International Consolidated Airlines, EasyJet, Sainsbury and Hammerson were all down by percentages of more than 2%.

Among the resources crowd, BP and Shell retreated as oil prices plunged after two separate reports -- the EIA today and API last night -- showed large builds in US inventories.

WTI and Brent crude were down more than 1%, with West Texas Intermediate at $47.65 a barrel and Brent having peeked briefly below the $50 a barrel level before settling at $50.26.

Safe-haven gold was bought higher, changing hands at up 0.24% to 1249.5p at about 16:39 GMT, while silver dipped lower and copper managed a minor gain.

This was as the dollar-spot index slipped 0.15% to $99.665, while sterling fell 0.06% to $1.2470. This helped big miners such as Anglo American, Antofagasta and Randgold Resources rise.

Three-month industrial metals prices were mixed, with copper and zinc both falling by more than 1% and tin and aluminum each gaining around quarter of a percent.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,324.72 -0.73%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 18,832.94 -0.82%
techMARK (TASX) 3,430.06 -0.77%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Antofagasta (ANTO) 843.50p 1.69%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,265.00p 1.44%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 7,295.00p 1.39%
Convatec Group (CTEC) 264.30p 1.07%
BT Group (BT.A) 330.55p 1.07%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,569.00p 1.03%
Smurfit Kappa Group (SKG) 2,175.00p 0.60%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 4,852.50p 0.54%
Next (NXT) 3,885.00p 0.52%
Relx plc (REL) 1,545.00p 0.46%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Kingfisher (KGF) 328.00p -5.09%
Standard Life (SL.) 356.20p -2.78%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 545.00p -2.77%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 758.00p -2.57%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 1,608.00p -2.49%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 266.60p -2.38%
easyJet (EZJ) 985.00p -2.38%
Barclays (BARC) 224.55p -2.37%
Bunzl (BNZL) 2,310.00p -2.24%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 1,093.00p -2.24%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Softcat (SCT) 366.80p 5.99%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 172.50p 5.52%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 284.30p 3.38%
Polymetal International (POLY) 1,035.00p 2.58%
Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 561.00p 2.09%
HICL Infrastructure Company Ltd (HICL) 165.20p 1.85%
Hunting (HTG) 549.50p 1.67%
Redrow (RDW) 500.50p 1.46%
Marshalls (MSLH) 351.30p 1.42%
Northgate (NTG) 556.50p 1.27%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

RPC Group (RPC) 866.50p -4.88%
AO World (AO.) 137.00p -4.60%
Berendsen (BRSN) 781.50p -3.82%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 205.90p -3.51%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 1,623.00p -3.29%
Allied Minds (ALM) 347.50p -3.26%
Computacenter (CCC) 714.50p -2.92%
Shawbrook Group (SHAW) 303.00p -2.88%
Hansteen Holdings (HSTN) 118.50p -2.87%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,030.00p -2.83%