London open: Stocks tank, oil surges as Russia invades Ukraine
London stocks tumbled in early trade on Thursday after Russia invaded Ukraine, with oil and gold both sharply higher.
At 0855 GMT, the FTSE 100 was down 2.3% at 7,328.86, while Brent crude topped $103 a barrel.
Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com, said: 2There was an air of complacency yesterday as investors hoped that Russia’s incursions would be limited. That fragile hope has been shattered a Russian forces moved in overnight, apparently on all fronts. Putin delivered a TV address calling to 'de-Nazify' Ukraine and demanded their forces lay down their arms. He also demanded Ukraine demilitarised. Looks like a move for blitzkrieg to install a Kremlin puppet regime.
"The West is following up with more severe sanctions…but it’s hard to think these can work now the die is cast. Another spectacular foreign policy failure by Biden…a new era for the security order not just for Europe but everywhere. China can look to Taiwan."
Unsurprisingly, Russian steelmaker Evraz and Anglo-Russian precious metals miner Polymetal tanked.
Although there was an avalanche of earnings news for investors to sink their teeth into, with all eyes on the Russia-Ukraine crisis positive earnings had no impact.
Rolls-Royce was under the cosh after the engine maker said chief executive Warren East would leave at the end of 2022 and that it swung to an annual operating profit.
Lloyds Banking Group was sharply lower even as it announced a £2bn share buyback as rising revenue and a writeback of bad debts caused annual profit to surge, while advertising giant WPP slid despite encouraging results.
On the upside, precious metals miners Fresnillo, Hochschild and Centamin all shone, with gold prices above $1,940 an ounce as investors piled into safe haven assets.
BAE Systems was also in the black after it reported a rise in full-year earnings and struck an upbeat note on the outlook. The fact it's a defence company probably didn't hurt.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,328.86 -2.26%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,397.31 -2.13%
techMARK (TASX) 4,236.86 -2.09%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Fresnillo (FRES) 709.40p 3.08%
BAE Systems (BA.) 618.60p 2.96%
Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) 3,896.00p 1.67%
Bunzl (BNZL) 2,740.00p 0.07%
Admiral Group (ADM) 3,012.00p 0.07%
SEGRO (SGRO) 1,248.00p 0.00%
SSE (SSE) 1,610.00p -0.06%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,810.00p -0.07%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 269.70p -0.11%
Shell (SHEL) 1,940.70p -0.13%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Polymetal International (POLY) 730.00p -33.49%
Evraz (EVR) 169.45p -31.12%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 101.00p -14.19%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 48.45p -7.19%
WPP (WPP) 1,100.50p -6.46%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 908.00p -5.50%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,909.00p -5.17%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 145.25p -5.10%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 548.00p -4.70%
CRH (CDI) (CRH) 3,303.00p -4.68%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 104.10p 2.36%
Energean (ENOG) 981.00p 2.19%
Howden Joinery Group (HWDN) 741.80p 1.51%
Morgan Sindall Group (MGNS) 2,180.00p 1.40%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 97.56p 1.16%
Endeavour Mining (EDV) 1,905.00p 0.79%
Serco Group (SRP) 127.00p 0.79%
CLS Holdings (CLI) 201.50p 0.75%
Capricorn Energy (CNE) 208.40p 0.48%
Harbour Energy (HBR) 354.20p 0.40%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Petropavlovsk (POG) 11.62p -15.18%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 221.80p -10.49%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 3,379.00p -7.27%
Spectris (SXS) 3,015.00p -7.00%
Allianz Technology Trust (ATT) 247.00p -6.26%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 941.00p -6.13%
PureTech Health (PRTC) 211.50p -5.58%
Genus (GNS) 3,002.00p -5.06%
Blackrock Throgmorton Trust (THRG) 700.00p -4.76%
888 Holdings (888) 226.00p -4.72%