Sector movers: Chinese trade figures, headwinds in banking hit shares

Industrial miners were at the bottom of the pile on Tuesday on the FTSE 350 following the release of weaker-than-expected Chinese foreign trade data covering the month of July.

“Last week’s US credit rating downgrade seemed like the perfect beginning of a market selloff, but this morning’s abysmal China trade data is a much more compelling reason for investors to cut back on risk," said IG chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp.

"The losses started in Europe and have now overtaken the US – the odds of a sizeable correction are now much higher. A pullback is certainly overdue, and the recent outbreak of confidence about a soft landing also leaves markets vulnerable in the short-term."

The figures revealed the fastest decline in the country's exports since February 2020, while imports shrank at more than twice the pace forecasts by economists-

That served to push September-dated gold futures on COMEX down by 1.81% to $3.7655/oz. as of 1805 BST.

In parallel, the US dollar spot index was climbing 0.56% to 102.61 amid heightened risk aversion.

Further souring investor sentiment was news that ratings agency Moody's cut its credit ratings for 10 small and medium-sized U.S. lenders overnight.

A surprise windfall tax on Italian lenders' profits dented risk appetite further, adding to the selling pressure on banks across the Continent.

Top performing sectors so far today

Non-life Insurance 3,011.04 +2.33%

Automobiles & Parts 1,909.77 +1.66%

Medical Equipment and Services 10,240.67 +1.65%

Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology 20,677.34 +1.13%

Real Estate Investment & Services 2,287.41 +0.78%

Bottom performing sectors so far today

Industrial Metals & Mining 6,252.79 -1.93%

Precious Metals and Mining 9,265.24 -1.70%

Chemicals 10,040.97 -1.59%

Banks 3,641.53 -1.47%

Personal Goods 30,877.98 -1.11%