FTSE 100

It was a dismal day if you've got shares exposed to the UK or China.

Continuing worries about the fall-out from Brexit on the UK economy saw retailers and housebuilding stocks hit. Tesco and Persimmon were among the top four biggest fallers, with both down about 2.7%. Next and Kingfisher were also off by about 2%.

Meanwhile, concerns about an economic slowdown in China, along with continuing unease about trade talks with the US, undermined commodities stocks. Glencore, Antofagasta, Evraz, and Rio Tinto were down by between 1.9% and 4%.

The FTSE 100, have slipped heavily early on, finished down 0.47% at 6,845.1 points.

The FTSE recovered from its midday low to finish virtually flat on a volatile day of trading. The index rose during the afternoon, reaching a high of 6,908.4 points, before finishing down 0.04% at 6,877.2.

Miners were among the biggest gainers, with Anglo American and Glencore up 1.95% and 1.63% respectively.

Retailers fell heavily on continuing worries about the health of the High Street. M&S fell 3.7% while Next sank 3.4%.

Housebuilders also suffered. Taylor Wimpey and Persimmon fell 0.6% and 1%, and Barratt Development lost 2.8%.

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London shares have ended higher, as expectations grew this afternoon that Theresa May will likely win the leadership challenge later tonight, which would greatly decrease the chances of a no-deal Brexit.

The FTSE 100 closed 73.3 points or 1% up to 6,880.19, led by property developer Berkeley Group, which rose 5.7% to £35.

The FTSE 250 ended 335.7 points or 1.9% ahead to 17,988.97. Top of the winners was intellectual property firm IP Group, which rose 18.3% to 121.8p.

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The FTSE 100 stock index is up more than 1.3% as investors breathed a sigh of relief over conciliatory signs in the protracted trade row between the US and China.

This offset worries over the deepening political chaos in the UK.

WPP topped the risers after the company said on Tuesday it would spend £300m and cut 2,500 jobs under a plan by new boss Mark Read to steer the world's biggest advertising group back to growth.

Among the losers, Wood Group fell more than 8% to the bottom of the FTSE and to its lowest level since May. Its outlook was cautious as its oil-producing clients struggle with volatile prices.

Among the midcaps, Superdry plunged 34% and Dixons Carphone sank 8% to the weakest in more than five years, while Metro Bank lost 5.7% after a Citi downgrade.

The FTSE-100 index is up around 30 points at 6,834.

In the FTSE 250 index there are some big movers.

Carphone Warehouse's shares are down 14%.

It's been a volatile couple of weeks, but today it was the buyers who outnumbered the sellers.

The FTSE 100 ended 1.27% up, driven by mining stocks which benefited from hopes of progress in US-China trade talks.

Anglo American rose 5.5%, while Glencore and Rio Tinto closed more than 3% ahead.

Financial stocks had another bad day. Standard Life Aberdeen, down 1.9%, was the FTSE 100's worst performer. Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland fell 1% and 0.3% respectively.

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The FTSE 100 is now up 1% at 6,793.40, led by WPP, whose relatively new chief executive, Mark Read, set out his strategy this morning for revitalising the advertising giant.

WPP's share price rose by 7.7% to 867.7p.

Asset management firm Standard Life Aberdeen leads the blue chip fallers, down 2.7% to 222.88p.

The FTSE 250 has gained 0.72% to 17,617.83.

Shares in 888 Holdings are up 5.78% at 162.7p after the gaming group said it had bought the remaining stake in the All American Poker Network which it did not already own.

Meanwhile, fashion retailer Superdry saw its shares top the biggest fallers, down 7.5% to 571.75p.

The FTSE 100 opened up 0.65% at 6,765.18 on Tuesday after a rocky session on Monday when Prime Minister Theresa May postponed a key Commons vote on her EU withdrawal deal.

The FTSE 250 is also ahead, up 0.40% at 17,562.01.

The FTSE 100 is now largely flat at 6,773.78 while the FTSE 250 is down 1% at 17,658.71.

In Paris, the CAC-40 is off 0.71% while in Germany, the Dax is down 0.63%.

Stephen Innes, head of trading at OANDA, says: "Another day, another reason to sell risk. Equity markets remain in a world of pain with everyone in search of a very elusive silver lining."

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London shares have continued to slip, in line with other European stock markets, on the eve of the UK parliament's vote on Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal.

The FTSE 100 is down 0.3% to 6,758.91, with the losers led by Barratt Developments, which has fallen 4% to 456p. Top of the winners is mining giant Randgold Resources, which has risen 1.5% to £67.66.

The FTSE 250 has dropped 113 points or 0.6% to 17,731.12. Top of the losers is Thomas Cook, which is down 7.8% to 28.5p as its shares continue to fall after its second profit warning in two months.

The top riser on the index is retirement financial services firm Just Group, which has jumped 18.8% to 96.3p.