London midday: FTSE plunges as Russia seizes Ukraine nuclear plant
London stocks had tumbled by midday on Friday on news that Russia had seized a nuclear power plant in Ukraine after shelling it overnight.
The FTSE 100 was down 3.1% at 7,017.56, on course for its biggest weekly decline in more than a year.
The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine was said to have been seized by Russian forces after Russian shelling sparked a fire overnight.
Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com, said Europe had woken up "to the dire situation in Ukraine".
"Shelling led to a fire at Europe’s largest nuclear facility. The fire is now extinguished, it seems, and the facility in Russian hands. US energy secretary Jennifer Granholm said there were no signs of increased radiation levels and reactors are being shut down safely," he said.
"Nato meeting today is underway, the alliance reiterating its defensive posture, is not involved in the conflict. Oil prices are well down from yesterday’s high but susceptible to severe dislocation at any point, yields are back up and we may be starting to see signs of that dollar squeeze I’d called for on Sunday with the dollar index breaking above 98 this morning, its highest in almost two years."
With all eyes firmly on the Russia-Ukraine war, the release of the latest US non-farm payrolls - normally a key and widely-anticipated event - was likely to take on less importance.
Richard Hunter at Interactive Investor said "another strong showing is expected", with the consensus being that 400,000 jobs were added in February, as compared to 467000 in January, with the impact of the Omicron variant subsiding. The unemployment rate is also expected to improve marginally to 3.9%, from a previous reading of 4%.
In equity markets, GKN owner Melrose was the worst performer on the FTSE 100, followed by telecoms group BT and building materials company CRH.
Airlines were under the cosh, with BA and Iberia owner IAG, Wizz and easyJet all sharply lower. Other travel-related shares also sank, with cruise operator Carnival, travel firm Tui and Upper Crust owner SSP down.
Broadcaster ITV was knocked lower by a downgrade to 'equalweight' from 'overweight' at Barclays, having already fallen heavily on Thursday after results.
Government contractor Mitie slid after the UK’s competition regulator launched a probe into the company over possible law breaches involving contracts for immigrant removal centres.
On the upside, Morgan Advanced Materials surged after saying it swung to a full-year pre-tax profit as demand recovered strongly across the global economy.
Hammerson gained after the retail property owner reported a rise in full-year adjusted earnings as the easing of Covid restrictions saw a rebound of footfall to its shopping centres.
Gold miners shone, with Fresnillo, Hochschild and Centamin all higher. Russian steelmaker Evraz and gold miner Polymetal - which has operations in Russia - were the standout performers on the top-flight index after recent sharp declines.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,017.56 -3.06%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,515.14 -2.81%
techMARK (TASX) 4,120.76 -2.74%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Evraz (EVR) 68.88p 29.72%
Polymetal International (POLY) 221.20p 24.55%
Fresnillo (FRES) 719.00p 5.24%
Admiral Group (ADM) 2,585.00p 1.77%
SSE (SSE) 1,580.00p 0.93%
BAE Systems (BA.) 699.40p 0.78%
Avast (AVST) 633.20p 0.41%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 998.60p 0.30%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) 7,004.00p 0.29%
Meggitt (MGGT) 755.80p -0.26%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Melrose Industries (MRO) 120.70p -7.08%
BT Group (BT.A) 168.60p -6.64%
CRH (CDI) (CRH) 3,046.00p -6.45%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 1,446.00p -6.29%
Flutter Entertainment (CDI) (FLTR) 8,102.00p -6.23%
Smurfit Kappa Group (CDI) (SKG) 3,113.00p -5.98%
ITV (ITV) 75.62p -5.73%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 4,557.00p -5.42%
Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,405.00p -5.39%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,695.00p -5.36%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Morgan Advanced Materials (MGAM) 306.50p 9.27%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 121.20p 4.12%
Centrica (CNA) 74.40p 2.54%
Drax Group (DRX) 666.50p 2.46%
Hammerson (HMSO) 35.20p 1.68%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 101.80p 1.60%
QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 305.00p 1.46%
Capricorn Energy (CNE) 214.40p 1.23%
Diversified Energy Company (DEC) 110.60p 1.10%
Vistry Group (VTY) 952.00p 0.80%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Petropavlovsk (POG) 1.37p -23.89%
Mitie Group (MTO) 47.45p -10.47%
TBC Bank Group (TBCG) 1,000.00p -10.39%
Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 2,280.00p -9.52%
Auction Technology Group (ATG) 852.00p -9.36%
Reach (RCH) 141.20p -9.02%
Pagegroup (PAGE) 471.20p -8.59%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 131.50p -8.49%
easyJet (EZJ) 473.40p -7.32%
Provident Financial (PFG) 258.80p -7.31%