London open: Stocks fall after Russia attacks Ukraine power plant

London stocks fell in early trade on Friday following reports that Russia had seized a nuclear power plant in Ukraine after shelling it overnight.

At 0825 GMT, the FTSE 100 was down 0.6% at 7,198.79, although the losses were not as bad as had been feared.

The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine was said to have been seized by Russian forces after shelling sparked a fire overnight.

Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said: "Risk assets lurched lower once more following reports of an attack on a nuclear plant in Ukraine, while commodities continued their rise amid the inflationary impacts of the conflict.

"Oil spiked to almost $120 per barrel on the news before settling back to around $112 - but still up by 44% in the year to date - as news emerged that an increase in output following a deal between the US and Iran is not close to materialising. Meanwhile, there were further spikes in commodities such as nickel, copper and aluminium as the escalation of sanctions on Russia threatened general supply chains."

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.

Hunter 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, 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 all down.

Broadcaster ITV was on the back foot again after a downgrade to 'equalweight' from 'overweight' at Barclays.

On the upside, 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.

Morgan Advanced Materials surged to the top of the FTSE 250 after saying it swung to a full-year pre-tax profit as demand recovered strongly across the global economy.

Russian steelmaker Evraz and gold miner Petropavlovsk - which has operations in Russia - were both high risers following heavy losses in recent sessions.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,198.79 -0.55%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,012.55 -0.33%
techMARK (TASX) 4,219.38 -0.41%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Evraz (EVR) 56.18p 5.80%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) 7,180.00p 2.81%
Fresnillo (FRES) 698.20p 2.20%
SSE (SSE) 1,585.50p 1.28%
BAE Systems (BA.) 702.60p 1.24%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,893.00p 1.08%
Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) 4,144.00p 0.78%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 1,059.50p 0.76%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 139.55p 0.72%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,552.00p 0.71%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

ITV (ITV) 75.66p -5.68%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 1,525.50p -4.63%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 91.82p -3.35%
CRH (CDI) (CRH) 3,149.00p -3.29%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 126.65p -2.50%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 128.52p -2.47%
Flutter Entertainment (CDI) (FLTR) 8,462.00p -2.06%
WPP (WPP) 942.80p -2.06%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,413.50p -2.04%
Schroders (SDR) 2,948.00p -1.93%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Morgan Advanced Materials (MGAM) 303.00p 8.02%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 123.50p 6.10%
Petropavlovsk (POG) 1.90p 5.56%
Network International Holdings (NETW) 199.75p 4.80%
Assura (AGR) 63.75p 4.25%
Coats Group (COA) 68.60p 3.63%
Darktrace (DARK) 527.00p 3.03%
Drax Group (DRX) 667.50p 2.61%
Hammerson (HMSO) 35.26p 1.85%
Ninety One (N91) 240.40p 1.61%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Reach (RCH) 148.60p -4.25%
easyJet (EZJ) 493.60p -3.37%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 139.10p -3.20%
Carnival (CCL) 1,227.40p -3.13%
Frasers Group (FRAS) 567.00p -3.08%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 163.65p -2.68%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 836.60p -2.40%
Baillie Gifford US Growth Trust (USA) 212.00p -2.30%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 202.30p -2.27%
Trainline (TRN) 172.80p -2.04%