* FTSE 100 down 0.4%, FTSE 250 up 0.3%
* Stocks vulnerable to Asia dive on Hong Kong tensions
* Trade sentiment uncertain
* Baker Greggs jumps after forecast upgrade
* Election update lifts pound, domestic stocks
(Adds news items, analyst comments, updates to closing prices)
By Muvija M and Shashwat Awasthi
Nov 11 (Reuters) - A mix of rising tensions in Hong Kong,
dampened U.S.-China trade sentiment and a firmer pound hit the
exporter-heavy FTSE 100 on Monday, while domestic stocks rallied
after the Brexit Party lent some clarity ahead of the Dec. 12
election.
The FTSE 100 slid 0.4% as a violent escalation of
protests in Hong Kong knocked nearly 2% off Asia-exposed banks
HSBC and StanChart and drove mining stocks
lower.
The main bourse handed back nearly all the gains it
accumulated last week, as the latest Chinese data disappointed
and U.S. President Donald Trump cast doubt on the progress of
trade negotiations with Beijing.
The FTSE 250, dominated by more domestically focused
firms, added 0.3%. Baker Greggs soared 16.5% after it
forecast annual earnings ahead of expectations, its best day
since floating more than three decades ago.
While expectedly downbeat domestic growth figures did little
to move the needle, sterling jumped after Brexit Party leader
Nigel Farage said he would not contest Conservative-held seats
in the election.
"Price action suggests that the possibility of fewer
obstacles in the way of an outright Conservative Party majority
would be welcomed by sterling buyers," Cityindex analyst Ken
Odeluga said.
"Given the fact that a bigger Parliamentary Tory party could
pass Boris Johnson's Brexit deal more easily, uncertainty that
has hamstrung Britain's economy would be curtailed."
JPMorgan's basket of London-listed companies
that make their cash at home surged 1.3% and enjoyed its best
day in nearly a month.
Brexit-sensitive stocks such as housebuilders also cheered
the news, with blue-chips Taylor Wimpey, Persimmon
, Barratt and Berkeley up 2%-3.6%.
Political developments helped alleviate some gloom cast by a
Moody's report in which the rating agency had warned it may cut
Britain's sovereign debt rating again.
Small-cap Sirius Minerals ended 8.4% higher, having
surged nearly 40% earlier, as the fertiliser maker produced a
revised development plan for its North Yorkshire polyhalite
project.
AIM-listed ECO Animal Health shed 24% and hit its
lowest level in almost five years after the veterinary medicines
maker blamed an outbreak of African swine fever and the trade
war for a hit to its performance.
(Reporting by Muvija M and Shashwat Awasthi in Bengaluru;
Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Mark Heinrich)
