The FTSE 100 fell on Monday as Russia-Ukraine tensions persist despite early hopes of talks between Putin and Biden.
The FTSE 100 was trading down 0.35% at 7,486 on Monday as markets reacted to Interfax reports of five deaths on the Russian border. Ukraine quickly disputed the claims saying no troops were presence in the area.
Having traded largely positive on Monday morning, the FTSE 100 began to slip around lunchtime and the selling accelerated on Monday afternoon in thin trade following the reports by Interfax.
Biden had previously warned Russia would stage an attack as a pretext for invading Ukraine.
The markets started the week on a positive note on hopes Putin and Biden would engage in diplomacy through a proposed summit between the two leaders.
“Joe Biden has cautiously agreed to the talks with Vladimir Putin, brokered by France’s Emmanuel Macron, following urgent phone calls on Sunday. As the details of the summit are thrashed out, shivers of trepidation at the prospect of war in Eastern Europe are still likely to cause fresh ripple effects on stock movements this week,” said Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown.
AstraZeneca
Despite most FTSE 100 shares trading on the red on Monday, AstraZeneca marched higher on news of successful trials of breast cancer treatment Enhertu.
“Today’s historic news from DESTINY-Breast04 could reshape how breast cancer is classified and treated. A HER2-directed therapy has never-before shown a benefit in patients with HER2-low metastatic breast cancer,” said Susan Galbraith, Executive Vice President, Oncology R&D, AstraZeneca.
AstraZeneca shares were the FTSE 100’s top riser gaining 2.7%.
Polymetal & Evraz
The gold price has rallied significantly throughout the the Ukraine-Russia crisis but the higher prices were not enough to support Polymetal share on Monday which sank over 8%.
Polymetal has precious metals operations across Russia and the threat of increased tensions in the region is denting sentiment around the stock, despite a rise in gold prices.
Steel-Maker Evraz was also heavily hit again on Monday as investors sold the stock as a proxy for tension in Ukraine. Evraz shares have lost 55% of their value so far in 2022.
Dechra Pharmaceuticals also slipped after the group said revenue grew 15.9% at Constant Exchange Rates, helping underlying operating profit grow 22.0%.