European markets climb on reports over Ukraine talks progress

London’s stock markets swung higher on the back of reports claiming Russian President Vladimir Putin said there were “positive shifts” in talks with Ukraine, which his forces invaded two weeks ago.

Early strong gains following the Interfax coverage pulled back slightly as traders became more tentative but still helped the FTSE close higher as leisure firms had a strong day.

The FTSE 100 ended the day up 56.55 points, or 0.8%, at 7,155.64 points on Friday.

Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG, said: “It’s a strange world where markets rally on comments from the Russian president but that’s what happened during the session today.

“Putin’s hint that negotiations might be showing some progress was enough to engender a rally across markets, although some of the optimism has been trimmed.

“There is, as yet, no sign of any real deal emerging and Russia’s previous aims still appear to be in place, so this rally might go the way of so many others of late, with markets still unable to find the foundations for a sustainable bounce.”

The other major markets in Europe saw similar increases, with volatile Dax striking a week high before pulling back slightly.

The French Cac was up 1.03% and the German Dax increased 1.59% by the end of the session.

In the US, the markets were somewhat more mixed as they opened modestly higher due to European gains but drifted after weak consumer confidence data.

Meanwhile, sterling gained slight traction against the euro following positive GDP figures for January.

The pound decreased by 0.17% against the dollar to 1.306, and rose 0.1% against the euro to 1.194.

In company news, education publisher Pearson shot higher after US-based investment firm Apollo confirmed it is mulling a bid for the FTSE 100 business.

The investor said that it was evaluating an offer, that would be made in cash, for the UK firm.

Shares in Pearson, which confirmed it has rejected previous approaches from Apollo, lifted by 117p to 766.6p.

British American Tobacco saw shares slide after it revealed plans to withdraw its presence in Russia and cut its 2022 financial guidance as a result.

The company said earlier this week that it was reviewing its Russian operation, which employs around 2,500 staff, and confirmed on Friday that its ownership of the division was “no longer sustainable in the current environment”.

Shares fell by 32p to 3,068p after the announcement.

Cineworld shares made strong gains ahead of the cinema chain’s full-year results announcement next week.

The company saw shares rise 2.33p to 34.96p on the back of strong early box office figures for The Batman.

The price of oil rebounded but remained well short of their 13-year high from earlier in the week.

Brent crude climbed by 2.54% to 112.11 US dollars per barrel when the London markets closed.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Pearson, up 117p at 766.6p, Polymetal, up 18.25p at 169.5p, Melrose, up 8.3p at 122p, Flutter, up 408p at 8,950p, and Entain, up 63p at 1,528p.

The biggest fallers of the session were Fresnillo, down 36p at 730.2p, United Utilities, down 20.5p at 1,052.5p, Severn Trent, down 55p at 2,825p, National Grid, down 20p at 1,113.4p, and SSE, down 24p at 1,648p.