LONDON: U.K. stocks closed lower Tuesday, with commodity-related shares under pressure after fresh Chinese trade data underscored concerns about slowing growth in the world’s second-largest economy.
But SABMiller PLC SAB, +9.02% SBMRY, +5.59% shares finished higher as the brewer reached an agreement for a potential takeover.
The FTSE 100 UKX, -0.45% dropped 0.5% to end at 6,342.28, suffering its lowest close since last Wednesday, according to FactSet data. Basic materials and oil-and-gas sectors helped lead the way lower, as those sectors are sensitive to developments in China, a major buyer of natural resources and related products. China’s General Administration of Customs on Tuesday said both Chinese exports and imports fell in September in yuan terms, with exports down 3.7% year-over-year.
Among miners, shares of Glencore PLC GLEN, -2.56% GLCNF, -2.70% 0805, +1.02% closed down 2.6% and Anglo American PLC AAL, -1.81% lost 1.8%.
Meanwhile, oil major Royal Dutch Shell PLC RDSB, -0.99% RDS.B, -1.90% finished 1% lower, and BP PLC BP., -0.53% BP, -1.81% fell 0.5%. Oil prices CLX5, +0.32% recently traded higher after sliding earlier Tuesday.
Chinese import data “are subject to distortion from volatility in the prices of…individual commodities, which drove the headline reading down,” by 20.4% year-over-year, wrote economist Ian Williams, economist and strategist at Peel Hunt, in a note. “Even allowing for those factors, soft demand for imported raw materials confirms that the outlook for Chinese industrial production and investment remains subdued.”
SABMiller shares finished up 9% after the brewer’s board agreed to the key terms of a sweetened potential takeover offer by rival Anheuser-Busch InBev NV ABI, +1.68% BUD, +2.10% A deal would value SABMiller at £68 billion ($104.5 billion).
