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* FTSE 100, FTSE 250 down 0.8%
* Calls for impeachment inquiry into Trump unnerves markets
* Lingering Brexit worries weigh on domestic stocks
* Sainsbury's outperforms on robust earnings update
(Adds company news items, updates share moves)
Sept 25 (Reuters) - London's FTSE 100 dropped on Wednesday,
with investors fearing that a call by U.S. lawmakers for an
impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump would pile on
more political uncertainty to an already fragile global economy.
Trump unleashed a fresh barrage of harsh comments on
Beijing's trade practices on Tuesday, denting optimism around
Sino-U.S. proposed talks and hurting internationally-focussed
financials, oil majors and miners, pushing the
main index down 0.8%.
If losses hold, the index is headed for its biggest one-day
drop since late August.
The FTSE 250 also shed 0.8% by 0803 GMT as more
investors focused on the future course of Brexit, with the House
of Commons set to reconvene after the Supreme Court ruled on
Tuesday Prime Minister Boris Johnson had suspended parliament
unlawfully.
"Calls for resignation grow. But nothing has really changed.
The only narrative that counts is that there’s elite out there
frustrating Brexit at every turn," Markets.com analyst Neil
Wilson wrote about the U.S. and UK political turmoil.
Worries over how, when or even if the UK will leave the
European Union have dragged down sterling for most of the year
and partly aided consecutive gains in the exporter-laden FTSE
100 in June and July.
Frustration over few signs of tangible progress in the
U.S.-China trade talks and a modest recovery in sterling amid
lawmakers' legally-binding moves to prevent a no-deal Brexit
have left the main index with meagre gains so far this month.
While the pound was on the back foot after Tuesday's gains
that were triggered by the Supreme Court ruling, the FTSE 100
still could not catch a break, indicating that problems ranged
far beyond Brexit.
Meanwhile, a mixed bag of company news provided little
impetus to indexes.
Sainsbury's added 2.41% after the supermarket chain
laid out a new plan to cut costs, speed up debt reduction and
overhaul its store estate and financial services division as it
reported better trading in the recent quarter.
Internet-based fashion retailer Boohoo, however,
slipped 3.3% as strong results triggered profit-taking in early
trading.
United Utilities and its primary rival Severn Trent
managed gains of 1% each after United forecast a strong
first-half as it benefited from regulatory incentives.
Babcock climbed 4.5% to a seven-month high after the
midcap-listed engineering services group said first-half trading
was in line with expectations and stuck to its annual targets,
while Aston Martin declined by the same level after a
bond issue.
(Reporting by Shashwat Awasthi, Indranil Sarkar and Muvija M in
Bengaluru; Editing by Bernard Orr)
