British stocks declined on Tuesday even as a rally in Brent crude futures above 80 dollars per barrel continued to support energy stocks.
The benchmark FTSE 100 dropped 23 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 7,040 on concerns over the pace of global growth.
Profit growth at China’s industrial firms slowed for a sixth month in August as plants fought off high commodity prices, COVID-19 outbreaks and part shortages, official data showed earlier in the day.
Goldman Sachs has cut its forecasts for China’s economic growth in 2021 as constraints on energy consumption added to headwinds facing the world’s second-largest economy.
BP Plc rallied 2.1 per cent and Royal Dutch Shell jumped 2.8 per cent as oil prices climbed for the sixth day running on supply concerns.
Plumbing supplies provider Ferguson edged up slightly after reporting higher annual profit. Utility National Grid dropped 1.3 per cent after it filed a three-year rate proposal for its upstate New York electric and natural gas distribution business.
Merchant banking group Close Brothers declined 1.7 per cent despite reporting a rise in fiscal 2021 net profit.