Russia-Ukraine escalation fears push oil and defence stocks higher
Energy majors Shell and BP tracked rising oil prices on Thursday, while defence-oriented firms Rolls-Royce and BAE Systems also made solid gains.
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Your support makes all the difference.The FTSE 100 rose on Thursday as investors bought shares in oil firms and mining stocks, amid fears over escalations in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
London’s blue-chip index gained 64.2 points, or 0.79%, to end the day at 8,149.27.
Shell and BP tracked rising oil prices, with the energy majors’ stock rising 1.84% and 2.03% respectively.
Similarly, defence-oriented firms Rolls-Royce and BAE Systems also made solid gains off the back of rising tensions around the war in Ukraine.
It comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia had tested a new intermediate-range missile in a strike on Ukraine.
He also warned Moscow could use it against countries that have allowed Kyiv to use their missiles to strike Russia.
The attack comes in a week when tensions have already risen, after the US and UK eased restrictions on Ukraine’s use of their own longer-range missiles inside Russia.
At the end of the day in Europe, Frankfurt’s Dax index rose 0.74% while the Cac 40 in Paris gained 0.21%.
In New York a little while after markets had closed in Europe, the S&P 500 had gained 0.56%, while the Dow Jones was 1.30% higher.
On currency markets the pound was trading 0.42% lower against the dollar at 1.2601 and had risen 0.15% against the euro at 1.2016.
In company news, JD Sports Fashion saw shares tumble after warning over a hit to profits following a sales slump in October.
The retailer said underlying annual profits are now expected at the lower end of its previous guidance for between £955 million to £1.04 billion.
Shares plunged 14.92% on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the group behind Royal Mail has warned it cannot rule out job cuts or price hikes in the face of a £120 million hit from the autumn Budget national insurance changes.
Martin Seidenberg, chief executive of parent firm International Distribution Services (IDS), said measures from Rachel Reeves’ maiden Budget last month will “hit us harder compared to our competitors”.
The firm said a £134 million write-down linked to the national insurance increase has stopped it returning to profit for the past six months.
IDS’s share price fell 0.97%.
Brent Crude Futures were up 1.09% to 73.60 US dollars at the close of trading.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Halma, up 143p to 2645p, Beazley, up 27p to 776p, Rolls-Royce, up 14.6p to 540.8p, B&M European, up 8.9p to 339p, and Marks & Spencer, up 8.9p to 371.9p.
The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were JD Sports, down 17.51p to 95.44p, Vodafone, down 2.36p to 68.88p, National Grid, down 18.6p to 964p, Vistry, down 9.5p to 624.5p, and BT, down 2.15p to 147.7p.