London open: Stocks little changed as investors eye Russia-Ukraine talks

London stocks were little changed in early trade on Monday as investors eyed further talks between Russia and Ukraine.

At 0900 GMT, the FTSE 100 was flat at 7,153.02, while oil prices eased back.

Danske Bank said: "Both Russia and Ukraine have expressed optimism that peace talks have made progress and that results could materialise in the coming days. The fourth round of talks begin today."

Not everyone was so optimistic, however. CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: "The sad reality is that any ceasefire remains some way off, with Russia’s behaviour over the weekend pointing to increasingly desperate measures to crush Ukrainian morale by a campaign of indiscriminate bombing, as they widened their target area to parts of western Ukraine.

"There is also a concern that any new Russian measures might include the use of biological and, or chemical weapons."

In equity markets, miners were on the back foot as base metals prices fell, with Rio Tinto, Anglo American and Glencore all weaker.

Rio was also in focus after the Anglo-Australian miner made a $2.7bn bid to buy the 49% of Canada’s Turquoise Hill it doesn’t own as it looks to settle its relationship with the Mongolian government over the massive Oyu Tolgoi copper project. Rio is offering 34 Canadian dollars in cash a share, a 32% premium to Turquoise Hill's last closing share price on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

British American Tobacco retreated after cutting its full-year guidance late on Friday as it announced its exit from Russia.

Elsewhere, Bodycote gained after the thermal processing services provider hailed "good progress" in 2021, with both revenues and profits higher.

Phoenix Group was also up as the life insurer boosted its dividend after annual cash generation exceeded expectations.

Anglo-Russian precious metals miners Polymetal was the top performer on the FTSE 100, while gold miner Petropavlovsk - which has operations in Russia - was the biggest loser on the FTSE 250.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,153.02 -0.04%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,395.17 0.93%
techMARK (TASX) 4,223.20 0.42%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Polymetal International (POLY) 187.00p 10.32%
Persimmon (PSN) 2,287.00p 5.29%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 128.00p 4.92%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 139.30p 4.77%
Admiral Group (ADM) 2,671.00p 4.01%
CRH (CDI) (CRH) 3,253.00p 3.53%
Smurfit Kappa Group (CDI) (SKG) 3,237.00p 3.02%
Ferguson (FERG) 11,355.00p 2.99%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,449.50p 2.98%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 96.27p 2.95%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Rio Tinto (RIO) 5,361.00p -3.65%
Glencore (GLEN) 493.95p -3.39%
Anglo American (AAL) 3,771.00p -3.31%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 1,167.50p -2.71%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 2,991.50p -2.49%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 875.00p -2.34%
Fresnillo (FRES) 716.40p -1.89%
Shell (SHEL) 1,936.10p -1.40%
Experian (EXPN) 2,814.00p -1.30%
Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) 3,964.00p -1.25%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Chemring Group (CHG) 342.00p 6.38%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 347.70p 5.36%
easyJet (EZJ) 510.20p 5.35%
Jupiter Fund Management (JUP) 199.60p 5.27%
Cineworld Group (CINE) 36.72p 5.03%
Synthomer (SYNT) 288.60p 4.64%
Mitie Group (MTO) 52.70p 3.54%
Hays (HAS) 124.90p 3.31%
Bellway (BWY) 2,859.00p 3.29%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 237.70p 3.26%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Petropavlovsk (POG) 2.55p -7.20%
Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 230.50p -6.11%
Domino's Pizza Group (DOM) 353.40p -3.18%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 126.20p -2.92%
National Express Group (NEX) 244.40p -2.55%
Polar Capital Technology Trust (PCT) 2,088.00p -1.97%
Allianz Technology Trust (ATT) 250.00p -1.96%
Schroder Oriental Income Fund Ltd. (SOI) 257.00p -1.91%
Templeton Emerging Markets Inv Trust (TEM) 143.40p -1.38%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 101.95p -1.35%