The FTSE 100 dropped on Thursday as investors turned their attention back to the build up of troops on the Ukrainian border following comments from US officials.
The FTSE 100 dropped 0.6% to 7,555 on Thursday morning after US officials said Russia has sent an additional 7,000 troops to the border with Ukraine. This is at odds with Russian claims they had this week ordered some troops back to barracks.
“The FTSE 100 was lower on Thursday as reports of attacks in Ukraine helped inflame tensions which many thought had been doused by talk of Russian withdrawals earlier in the week,” said Danni Hewson, financial analyst at AJ Bell.
Evraz has become a proxy for equity traders who want to play the short term sentiment around Russia-Ukraine tensions and sent the miners’ shares 6% lower on reports Russia was sending additional troops to the border with Ukraine.
BP and Shell were also a major drag on the index as oil prices fell on reports Iran was pursuing a deal with the West one their nuclear deal which could see Iran’s oil become available on the global market once more.
“Hopes a deal between the West and Iran could be salvaged put pressure on oil prices and saw index heavyweights BP and Shell fall,” said Hewson.
Standard Chartered fell after the banking group released profits that disappointed markets despite embarking on a share buyback programme.
“Standard Chartered is the first out the gate for the UK’s major bank reporting season, and a lot can be learned. Despite a lacklustre response from the market, the group’s announcement of a new buyback should be taken well,” said Sophie Lund-Yates, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.
Standard Chartered shares were down 3.9% at the time of writing on Thursday.
Reckitt Benckiser
Reckitt Benckiser was the FTSE 100’s top riser after the group said they were targeting 1-4% revenue growth in 2022 and had successfully navigated rising prices to maintain margins.
“Investors have unsurprisingly been a little tentative on Reckitt over the past 18 months, given concerns about unwinding tailwinds seen during the pandemic. A sales beat in today’s full year results has been received warmly by markets, with shares up over 4% in early trading,” said Matt Britzman, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.