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LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks in London opened flat to lower on Monday amid global trade tensions, as Associated British Foods led the blue chip fallers after warning annual profit would take a GBP20 million hit.Investor sentiment was soured by the Trump administration's latest threat to impose tariffs on imports from China.Despite opposition from American companies, Trump on Friday threatened to impose tariffs on additional USD267 billion, in addition to the proposed 25% duty to be levied on USD200 billion of Chinese goods.China's Commerce Ministry has already warned it would be forced to roll out necessary retaliatory measures if the US imposes any new tariffs.The FTSE 100 index was down 5.62 points at 7,272.08. The mid-cap FTSE 250 index was down 3.06 points at 20,206.55. The AIM All-Share index was down 6.31 points at 1,094.01.The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.1% at 12,316.12, the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.2% at 18,333.18, and the Cboe UK Small Companies was down 0.1% at 12,116.27.On the London Stock Exchange, WM Morrison Supermarkets was the best blue chip performer, up 1.3% after HSBC upgraded the supermarket chain to Buy from Hold. At the other end of the large cap index, Associated British Foods was the worst performer, down 3.5% after the Primark clothing chain owner warned it will take a hit due to the stronger pound as it kept its outlook for the nearly-ended financial year unchanged.AB Foods expects to incur a GBP20 million loss to due foreign exchange movements, with two thirds of the group's operating profit earned outside the UK.For the year ending September 15, the Primark clothing chain owner said it generated a "strong performance" from its Retail, Grocery, Agriculture and Ingredients businesses which offset the negative effects of lower sugar prices in the European Union. The company said that its Sugar division revenue and adjusted profit will be "well down" on last year, mainly due to the lower prices issues."The global supply of sugar has moved into surplus and the world market sugar price has reduced," AB Foods said.Glencore was down 1.1% after JPMorgan cut the miner and commodities trader to Neutral from Overweight. In the FTSE 250, RPC Group was the standout performer, up 23% after the plastics products company confirmed it is in preliminary talks with private equity firms Apollo Global Management and Bain Capital.Although, in response to press speculation, RPC said the talks "may or may not" result in an offer for the company. Under UK takeover rules, Apollo Global Management and Bain Capital have until October 8 to either make a firm offer for the company or walk away.The pound was lower against the dollar quoted at USD1.2903 compared to USD1.2949 at the London equities close Friday, ahead of UK industrial and manufacturing data at 0930 BST. Investors also await the monetary policy meetings from the Bank of England and the European Central Bank this week.Bank of England policymakers are set to sit tight on interest rates on Thursday after last month's milestone hike and amid a mixed performance across the economy.The Monetary Policy Committee is expected to vote for no-change, having increased rates to the highest level in nearly a decade last month - to 0.75% from 0.5%.Governor Mark Carney said in August that rates would need to rise further to bring inflation back to the 2% target over the next few years, though he stressed hikes would be "limited" and "gradual".Elsewhere, a no-deal Brexit would be catastrophic for businesses and company bosses were left frustrated by Tory infighting, the head of Confederation of British Industry said.Carolyn Fairbairn said the lack of a clear Brexit plan meant firms were having to prepare for a no-deal outcome but tens of thousands of companies had "no systems in place" to cope with a World Trade Organisation approach.Fairbairn said the view of CBI members was "frustration bordering on despair" at the "soap opera" in Westminster.In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris and the DAX 30 in Frankfurt were both flat. The euro was down quoted at USD1.1550 from USD1.1674 at the European equities close Friday.The Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed up 0.3%. In China, the Shanghai Composite closed down 1.2%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is down 1.2%.Consumer prices in China were up 2.3% on year in August, the National Bureau of Statistics said.This exceeded expectations for 2.1%, which would have been unchanged from the July reading. The bureau also said that producer prices jumped an annual 4.1%. That also topped forecasts for 4.0% and was down from 4.6% in the previous month.Japan's gross domestic product climbed 3.0% on year in the second quarter of 2018, the Cabinet Office said.That beat forecasts for 2.6% and was up from the previous reading of 1.9%. On an annualized seasonally adjusted basis, GDP added 0.7% - unchanged and in line with expectations.The GDP deflator was up 0.1% on year - also unchanged and matching forecasts.