London midday: Travel shares pace decline as Russia-Ukraine tensions grow

London equity markets were still firmly in the red by midday on Monday, with travel shares under the cosh as growing tensions between Russia and Ukraine rattled markets.

The FTSE 100 was 1.9% lower at 7,513.26. At the same time, oil and gas prices surged after the US warned that Russia could invade Ukraine "at any moment".

Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor, said: "Geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine have sparked nervousness at the start of the week with European markets opening in the red, falling to three-week lows driven by travel & leisure and the banking sector. The weekend has provided no let up for markets after Wall Street’s sell-off on Friday when the S&P 500 slumped nearly 2%.

"The FTSE 100 is under pressure, heading back down towards 7,500 as the next major support level.

"Fears about escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine have pushed oil to fresh seven-year highs. Brent crude has pushed above key resistance now support at $95 a barrel as $100 looks increasingly likely considering possible supply disruptions ahead. An invasion of Ukraine would likely push oil prices sharply higher, beyond $100 at a time when the market is already in rally mode driven by an imbalance between demand and supply."

Russian steelmaker Evraz tanked more than 30%. Scholar noted that Evraz was already under pressure before geopolitical tensions came about after new rules on Russian exports weighed on sales of its steel products last year.

Travel-related shares were in the red. BA and Iberia owner IAG and engine maker Rolls-Royce slumped, while budget airlines Wizz and easyJet, cruise operator Carnival and travel firm Tui also suffered heavy losses.

Elsewhere, banks declined, with Barclays, Lloyds and NatWest all weaker.

Chemical company Synthomer lost gorund after it said it expects full-year core earnings to double, in line with expectations, but cautioned that sales of latex gloves during the Covid pandemic had peaked.

JD Sports retreated after the Competition and Markets Authority fined it and Footasylum £4.7m for breaching the rules around a merger blocked by the watchdog.

On the upside, precious metals miner Fresnillo was the top gainer on the FTSE 100, while Centamin and Endeavour Mining rose as gold prices spiked higher on safe-haven demand.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,513.26 -1.93%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 21,545.64 -2.28%
techMARK (TASX) 4,336.12 -2.27%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Fresnillo (FRES) 653.60p 5.01%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,417.00p 1.44%
BAE Systems (BA.) 604.60p 0.47%
Avast (AVST) 625.20p 0.29%
Croda International (CRDA) 7,294.00p -0.05%
Meggitt (MGGT) 746.00p -0.27%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 5,877.00p -0.29%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,362.50p -0.29%
Glencore (GLEN) 416.25p -0.36%
Tesco (TSCO) 296.50p -0.55%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Evraz (EVR) 300.50p -32.43%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 163.78p -6.22%
Aveva Group (AVV) 2,641.00p -5.64%
Barclays (BARC) 195.68p -5.06%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 1,031.00p -4.76%
Abrdn (ABDN) 234.30p -4.76%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 166.70p -4.55%
3i Group (III) 1,299.50p -4.45%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 534.00p -4.30%
Prudential (PRU) 1,162.00p -4.28%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Centamin (DI) (CEY) 93.42p 2.37%
Harbour Energy (HBR) 376.20p 2.28%
Syncona Limited NPV (SYNC) 191.60p 2.24%
Beazley (BEZ) 490.20p 1.28%
Sequoia Economic Infrastructure Income Fund Limited (SEQI) 103.00p 0.59%
Endeavour Mining (EDV) 1,760.00p 0.57%
ICG Enterprise Trust (ICGT) 1,226.00p 0.49%
BH Macro Ltd. GBP Shares (BHMG) 3,780.00p 0.27%
Vivo Energy (VVO) 132.40p 0.15%
HICL Infrastructure (HICL) 171.20p 0.12%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 4,192.00p -9.24%
Darktrace (DARK) 374.80p -7.73%
Carnival (CCL) 1,473.20p -6.94%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 268.50p -6.22%
Synthomer (SYNT) 316.80p -6.22%
Baillie Gifford US Growth Trust (USA) 226.50p -5.43%
Liontrust Asset Management (LIO) 1,494.00p -5.32%
Molten Ventures (GROW) 739.00p -5.01%
Discoverie Group (DSCV) 818.00p -4.88%
Trainline (TRN) 225.60p -4.81%