Europe close: Stocks fall on worries over possible escalation in Ukraine war
By Alexander Bueso
Date: Tuesday 26 Apr 2022
(Sharecast News) - European shares surrendered early gains as Wall Street came under heavy selling again and the headlines out of Ukraine appeared to point to the risk of a more prolonged conflict.
In particular, investors were reacting to reports that Moscow was set to cut off natural gas supplies to Poland and watching reports of 'blasts' in Moldova's breakaway region of Transnistria.
Separately, speaking in Warsaw, German economy minister, Robert Habeck, said his country had reduced its reliance on Russia oil by enough to make an embargo on Russian oil "manageable".
"Inflation won't let up anytime soon as the Russian headlines suggest the war in Ukraine could see further escalations, which means inflation won't ease up and that will continue to drive central bank tightening fears," was Oanda senior market analyst, Edward Moya's, view on things.
Against that backdrop, the pan-European Stoxx 600 index reversed early gains, dropping 0.90% to reach 441.10, with all major regional bourses lower alongside.
In parallel, euro/dollar retreated 0.59% to 1.065 and Brent crude oil futures added 2.7% to $105.06 barrel on the ICE.
In the UK, official data showed the government borrowed less than expected in March and the estimate of borrowing for the rest of the past financial year was revised down.
Public sector net borrowing, excluding public sector banks, was £18.1bn in March - lower than the average 19.8bn analysts' forecast. The government borrowed £151.8bn in the year to the end of March - £24bn more than forecast by the government's fiscal watchdog, the Office for National Statistics said.
In equity news, shares in Danish shipping giant Maersk rose 3% as the company revised its full year guidance for 2022 upwards to underlying EBITDA of around $30bn from $24bn.
Swedish medical technology company Getinge plummeted 15% after first quarter profits fell on supply chain woes.
Office space provider IWG fell 5%, despite a rise in first-quarter revenue.
Shares in Primark owner AB Foods was also down by 5% as the company reported a surge in interim profits but warned that prices would rise at the clothing retail chain.
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