FTSE 100 Slips For 2nd Straight Session, Down More Than 1% At Noon

(RTTNews) - The UK stock market's key index FTSE 100 declined sharply Tuesday morning as rising geopolitical tensions and Trump's new tariff threats triggered heavy sellling at several counters from across various sectors.

The United States deployed military aircraft to Pituffik Space Base in Greenland, prompting Denmark to rush its Army chief and troops to the Arctic Island in a dramatic escalation of tensions.

On the tariff front, U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose 200% tariffs on French wine and Champagne after Paris rejected his invitation to join the proposed Board of Peace initiative aimed at resolving global conflicts. The French government said that it "does not intend to answer favorably."

The FTSE 100, which tumbled to 10,047.80, was down 110.79 points or 1.09% at 10,084.56 at noon.

Mondi drifted down by about 3.4%. AstraZeneca slipped by about 3% after the drug maker announced it would delist its American Depositary Shares and debt securities from Nasdaq.

JD Sports Fashion, St. James's Place, Antofagasta, Land Securities, Prudential, British American Tobacco, Ashtead Group, Burberry Group, Legal & General, Hiscox and Schroders lost 2 to 3%.

Spirax Group, Standard Chartered, Anglo American Plc., Experian, Croda International, Halma, GSK and M&G also declined sharply.

Informa gained more than 3.5%. Haleon and Endeavour Mining moved up by 1.9% and 1.7%, respectively. Metlen Energy & Metals, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, Severn Trent, The Sage Group, Pearson and Natwest Group posted modest gains.

In economic news, the UK unemployment rate remained stable and wage growth eased in the three months to November, data from the Office for National Statistics showed.

The jobless rate was estimated at 5.1%, unchanged from the three months to October and also matched expectations.

Average earnings excluding bonuses posted an annual growth of 4.5%, which matched economists' forecast but slower than the 4.6% rise in the preceding period.

During October to December, vacancies showed an increase of 10,000 to 734,000 compared with July to September period.