London’s FTSE 100 was down 1.3% at 7,560.51 in afternoon trade on Monday amid growing tensions between Russia and Ukraine.
Russian steelmaker Evraz was the worst performer on the index. Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor, said investors were fleeing the stock amid the threat of war between Russia and Ukraine.
“The steel and mining giant, which is 29% owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, is down more than 50% year-to-date as fears about potential sanctions punish the share price,” she noted. “Evraz was already under pressure before geopolitical tensions came about after new rules on Russian exports weighed on sales of its steel products last year.”
British Airways and Iberia parent IAG was also sharply lower. Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com, said: “I guess a war in Europe would put people off going on holiday a bit, but also disruption to air space.”
Banks were also under the cosh, with Lloyds and NatWest both lower.
On the upside, precious metals miners Fresnillo and Polymetal were among the standout gainers as gold prices spiked higher on safe-haven demand.
FTSE 100 – Risers
Fresnillo (FRES) 658.00p 5.72%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,433.50p 1.93%
Polymetal International (POLY) 1,126.00p 1.49%
Croda International (CRDA) 7,360.00p 0.85%
BAE Systems (BA.) 606.20p 0.73%
Avast (AVST) 625.60p 0.35%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,369.00p 0.18%
Glencore (GLEN) 418.00p 0.06%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 5,725.00p -0.02%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,963.50p -0.10%
FTSE 100 – Fallers
Evraz (EVR) 310.10p -30.27%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 166.16p -4.86%
Aveva Group (AVV) 2,664.00p -4.82%
Abrdn (ABDN) 235.00p -4.47%
3i Group (III) 1,305.00p -4.04%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 51.84p -3.93%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 1,041.50p -3.79%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 152.85p -3.78%
ITV (ITV) 119.05p -3.72%
NATWEST GROUP PLC ORD 100P (NWG) 244.00p -3.56%
