(Reuters) -British stocks ended lower on Wednesday, dragged by heavyweight pharmaceutical stocks, while markets remained focused on tariff escalations between the U.S. and China.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 slipped 2.9%, after recording its strongest session since March 2022 in the previous one.
The domestically focused midcap index fell 2.5%.
Hopes for concessions faded after rounds of tariff retaliation by the world’s two major economies, as China announced 84% tariffs on U.S. goods, up from 34%, in response to U.S. levies of 104% on Beijing starting on Thursday.
Pharma and biotech stocks fell 6.1%, leading sectoral declines, alongside European and U.S. peers after U.S. President Donald Trump signalled he would announce a “major” tariff on pharmaceutical imports.
AstraZeneca and GSK were among the worst performers on the FTSE 100, down 6.8% and 5.7% respectively.
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