London open: Stocks edge lower amid Russia-Ukraine tensions; Unilever rallies

London stocks edged lower in early trade on Monday as tensions grew between Russia and Ukraine, with all eyes on this week’s US Federal Reserve meeting.

At 0850 GMT, the FTSE 100 was down 0.2% at 7,478.39.

Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said: "The Federal Reserve meeting later this week is expected to confirm the fears which investors have been harbouring so far this year, namely that that apart from an acceleration of tapering, interest rate cards are also likely to pepper the remainder of 2022.

"The current consensus is for an initial hike in March, followed by a further two or three rises which could take the rate to 1% by year end. While the moves are increasingly necessary given relatively rampant inflation, they also bring the likelihood of dampening earnings prospects.

"More broadly, the apparently worsening of relations between Russia and Ukraine has put investors on alert, as any possible attacks by Russia will have wider implications which other major powers will be unable to ignore. Whether this results in military action or strict sanctions remains to be seen, but in any event the developments are adding to general investor unease.

"This cocktail of concerns also swept through Asian markets and landed at the door of UK markets in early exchanges."

In equity markets, housebuilders were under the cosh, with Barratt and Berkeley both lower after downgrades at Jefferies.

On the upside, Unilever was the top riser on the FTSE 100 following reports that Nelson Peltz’s activist hedge fund Trian has built a stake in the consumer goods maker.

Vodafone gained following a report that it has approached the Hong Kong owners of rival mobile phone company Three UK about a merger amid rumours the company itself could be a takeover target for a predator. According to the Mail on Sunday, Vodafone held talks late last year with Asian conglomerate CK Hutchison, owner of Three UK, about buying its rival.

Computacenter rose as it forecast annual profits to be slightly in excess of £250m after a better-than-expected fourth quarter despite a higher pound and supply shortages.

Outside the FTSE 350, De La Rue tumbled nearly 30% after the banknote printer warned over full-year profits, pinning the blame on Covid-related disruptions and supply chain issues.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,478.39 -0.21%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 22,146.46 -0.52%
techMARK (TASX) 4,447.87 0.09%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Unilever (ULVR) 3,853.50p 4.86%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 122.40p 4.13%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,340.00p 2.96%
BT Group (BT.A) 191.55p 1.48%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 1,747.50p 0.95%
Sage Group (SGE) 793.60p 0.69%
Kingfisher (KGF) 328.00p 0.61%
Bunzl (BNZL) 2,737.00p 0.59%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 285.30p 0.56%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,029.00p 0.55%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Barratt Developments (BDEV) 651.80p -3.35%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 1,075.50p -3.06%
Pearson (PSON) 641.00p -2.73%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 1,388.00p -2.63%
Entain (ENT) 1,594.00p -2.51%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 154.02p -2.40%
Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 2,705.00p -2.35%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 4,273.00p -2.22%
Glencore (GLEN) 401.80p -2.01%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 153.50p -2.01%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Computacenter (CCC) 2,764.00p 2.52%
Airtel Africa (AAF) 147.80p 2.21%
Playtech (PTEC) 590.00p 1.81%
QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 289.80p 1.68%
Endeavour Mining (EDV) 1,685.00p 1.51%
Impax Environmental Markets (IEM) 460.00p 1.43%
Mediclinic International (MDC) 329.40p 1.10%
Beazley (BEZ) 491.60p 1.09%
Safestore Holdings (SAFE) 1,237.00p 0.98%
BlackRock Smaller Companies Trust (BRSC) 1,972.00p 0.72%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Ferrexpo (FXPO) 234.40p -5.25%
Trustpilot Group (TRST) 204.60p -4.75%
Baillie Gifford US Growth Trust (USA) 221.00p -4.12%
Cineworld Group (CINE) 40.30p -3.93%
Edinburgh Worldwide Inv Trust (EWI) 220.00p -3.72%
Herald Investment Trust (HRI) 2,030.00p -3.56%
Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 192.00p -3.52%
Darktrace (DARK) 410.00p -3.30%
Petropavlovsk (POG) 15.00p -3.04%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 1,212.00p -3.00%