London’s top indexes give up gains as Moscow assault of Ukraine ramps up

London’s top indexes gave up some of their gains yesterday as investors fretted over a ramping up in Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

The capital’s premier FTSE 100 index dropped 1.27 per cent to 7,099.00 points, while the domestically-focused FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with the health of the UK economy, fell 0.57 per cent to 19,955.55 points.

London and European stocks skyrocketed on Wednesday as investors were buoyed by an opening in potential peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, with President Zelensky saying in an interview he could be ready to compromise.

Reports of Opec+, the global oil cartel, being ready to boost output helped cool commodity prices yesterday, lifting global markets.

“A key factor that’s bolstered sentiment and led to that sharp move lower in commodities have been indicators from Ukraine that there could be a basis for talks to continue with Russia, alongside signals about a potential boost to Opec+ output,” Jim Reid at Deutsche Bank said.

However, London’s top indexes cancelled out some of their gains.

Evraz, the steelmaker which has operations in Russia and Ukraine and counts Roman Abramovich as a top shareholder, was the worst performer on the FTSE 100, plunging 13.55 per cent.

This morning, the UK government announced Abramovich will be hit with tough sanctions, prompting investors to ditch the steelmaker.

The pound lost ground on the greenback, weakening 0.5 per cent to buy $1.3102.