LONDON's exporter-heavy FTSE 100 inched lower yesterday as oil majors and Asia-exposed financials fell on China growth worries and as the pound strengthened, while a 72 per cent slump in Tullow Oil single-handedly dragged down midcaps.

The blue-chip index gave up 0.1 per cent, with its dollar earners including spirits company Diageo and pharmaceutical giant Astrazeneca taking a hit from gains in sterling ahead of the General Election later this week.

The FTSE 250 midcap index was also down by the same level, with Tullow Oil recording its steepest one-day fall since early 2004 after the oil and gas explorer scrapped dividend and announced the exit of its chief executive. Yesterday's drop wiped roughly half of Tullow's market cap — £1bn — as the stock tumbled to its lowest in 15-and-a-half years. Rival Premier Oil also fell eight per cent.

Other news-related moves saw Tesco top the bluechip index with a five per cent rise after the retailer started a review of its operations in Thailand and Malaysia.

Helping limit losses on the midcap bourse was engineering firm Senior, which jumped seven per cent on news that it was reviewing options for its aerostructures business.

Marks & Spencer added 3.5 per cent after a double upgrade from Goldman Sachs.

Investors were also trying to size up the chances of a new round of US tariffs on $156bn (£118.6bn) worth of Chinese goods from 15 December.

While signs of progress in the trade negotiations lifted the FTSE 100 to its biggest one-day gain since July last Friday, the bourse still marked its steepest weekly fall after contradictory messages from US President Donald Trump earlier on.

More domestically-exposed firms such as Lloyds and Barclays outperformed as investors bet on the Boris Johnson-led Conservatives to win the election this week and deliver Brexit.

Though Raymond James analyst Chris Bailey warned: "The spectre of tactical voting still lingers."

TOP RISERS 1. Tesco Up 4.48 per cent 2. Aviva Up 1.71 per cent 3. Sainsbury's Up 1.41 per cent TOP FALLERS 1. Phoenix Group Down 3.81 per cent 2. Rentokil Down 2.29 per cent 3. Melrose Down 2.11 per cent

(c) 2019 City A.M., source Newspaper