London midday: Stocks weaker amid Russia's renewed Ukraine assault
By Josh White
Date: Tuesday 19 Apr 2022
(Sharecast News) - UK shares remained in the red at lunchtime on Tuesday, as Russia's latest assault on Ukraine and hawkish Federal Reserve comments worried investors.
The FTSE 100 was last down 0.43% at 7,583.72, and the FTSE 250 was 0.99% lower at 20,913.49.
"Despite the public holiday in most of Europe yesterday, this is shaping up to be another volatile and eventful week for global markets," said FXTM senior research analyst Lukman Otunuga.
"The latest comments from the World Bank have added to the cocktail of caution that will most likely influence sentiment over the next few sessions."
The bank cut its global growth forecast for 2022 by nearly one percentage point to 3.2%, from its previous estimate of 4.1%, citing the war in Ukraine, soaring inflation, and the lingering effects of Covid-19 for the serious trimming.
"Later today, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will release its updated global economic outlook with markets expecting a downgrade for growth this year.
"Such a development may hit investor confidence, sweetening appetite for safe-haven assets."
In Ukraine, Russian forces overnight launched their long-expected offensive in the east of the country after massing troops and artillery there for the past fortnight.
Investors were also digesting comments from St Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard, who repeated his case for increasing interest rates to 3.5% by the end of the year on Monday, saying domestic inflation was "far too high".
In equity news, gains in commodity stocks kept losses in check, boosted by higher metal prices on the back of hopes of more stimulus in China.
Oil majors BP and Shell also remained in the green, after JP Morgan raised its price targets on the companies' shares.
Spectris was up more than 5% after the electrical engineering firm said it will sell specialist sensor maker Omega Engineering to private equity firm Arcline Investment Management for $525m and also started a £300m share buyback.
On the downside, shares in travel food outlet operator SSP Group were down more than 6% after Deutsche Bank downgraded the company's shares to "hold" from "buy".
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,582.49 -0.44%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,924.69 -0.93%
techMARK (TASX) 4,393.51 -0.40%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Ferguson (FERG) 10,275.00p 2.54%
Royal Mail (RMG) 335.90p 2.07%
Shell (SHEL) 2,232.00p 1.82%
Tesco (TSCO) 269.90p 1.35%
Entain (ENT) 1,570.50p 1.22%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 544.00p 1.19%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,695.50p 1.13%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 94.41p 1.05%
Fresnillo (FRES) 812.40p 1.04%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 244.00p 0.91%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 1,592.00p -5.88%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 141.25p -4.24%
ITV (ITV) 74.40p -3.40%
Experian (EXPN) 2,656.00p -3.03%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 5,876.00p -2.97%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 4,931.00p -2.97%
Croda International (CRDA) 7,380.00p -2.82%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 930.40p -2.68%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 119.75p -2.56%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 516.00p -2.42%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Spectris (SXS) 2,641.00p 5.01%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 192.50p 4.08%
Darktrace (DARK) 376.50p 3.18%
QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 338.60p 3.11%
UK Commercial Property Reit Limited (UKCM) 95.10p 1.82%
Discoverie Group (DSCV) 819.00p 1.74%
BMO Commercial Property Trust Limited (BCPT) 117.60p 1.73%
Ruffer Investment Company Ltd Red PTG Pref Shares (RICA) 313.00p 1.62%
Virgin Money UK (VMUK) 169.10p 1.35%
BlackRock World Mining Trust (BRWM) 802.00p 1.26%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Polymetal International (POLY) 233.90p -8.06%
SSP Group (SSPG) 229.10p -6.34%
JTC (JTC) 760.00p -6.29%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 2,925.00p -6.13%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 183.30p -4.68%
Syncona Limited NPV (SYNC) 166.00p -4.27%
Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 624.00p -4.00%
888 Holdings (888) 209.60p -3.94%
JPMorgan Japanese Inv Trust (JFJ) 466.00p -3.92%
IWG (IWG) 258.20p -3.91%
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