FTSE 100 Trades Below The Flatline

(RTTNews) - Persisting tensions on the trade front and growing concerns over U.K.'s fiscal outlook dampened sentiment and dragged down the FTSE 100 to negative territory. The FTSE 100 benchmark of the London Stock Exchange is currently trading in the red, underperforming the DAX, CAC 40, Euro Stoxx 50 etc., which are all trading in the green.

The FTSE 100 which had closed at 8,822.91 on Friday traded between 8,836.88 and 8,798.66 on Monday. The index is currently trading at 8,813.90, having slipped 0.10 percent from the previous close.

In the 100-scrip index, 60 scrips are trading in the overnight green zone.

3I Group topped gains with a surge of 2.3 percent. Standard Chartered followed with gains of close to 2 percent. International Consolidated Airlines as well as Rolls-Royce Holdings also gained more than 1.5 percent.

Shell and J.D. Sports fashion led losses with a decline of 2.7 percent. Howden Joinery Group also lost close to 2 percent.

The dollar has strengthened to 97.34 as compared with 97.18 at the previous close. The GBP/USD pair has in the meanwhile declined 0.26 percent to 1.3618. The sterling ranged between $1.3662 and $1.3575 in the day's trade. The EUR/GBP pair is trading 0.20 percent lower at 0.8610. The GBP/JPY pair has jumped 0.45 percent to 198.26.

In tandem with the global trend, bonds in U.K. also witnessed an increase in yields, albeit at a lower level. Ten-year bond yields in the U.K. added 0.29 percent to 4.5720 percent. The yields ranged between 4.5780 percent and 4.5230 percent over the course of the day. The same was at 4.5590 percent a day earlier. The spike in ten-year bond yields in Germany, France, Spain and Italy were more than 0.75 percent.