Shares tread water in London as Ukraine weighs on European markets

London’s top index treaded water on Wednesday while some international peers fell as traders around the world continue to eye the situation in Ukraine.

The FTSE 100 ended the day up just 3.97 points, finishing at 7,498.18, a rise of less than 0.1%.

“Markets in Europe at one point today appeared to be putting to one side their concerns about events in eastern Ukraine for the time being, choosing instead on a raft of decent company updates, and the positives of a series of sanctions that were lighter than expected,” said CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson.

He added: “The news that Ukraine is implementing a 30-day state of emergency didn’t appear to undermine the more bullish mood in the morning session, however this changed in the afternoon session, when the Dax, which had been leading today’s move higher, saw all of its gains wiped out in 30 minutes after reports that Ukraine was experiencing a DDOS attack, in what could be a precursor to an invasion.

“The Ukrainian government then released the details of its state of emergency, which starts at midnight tonight, calling up all its reservists, as well as imposing restrictions on movement throughout the country, in a sign that it expects to see an imminent escalation, pulling European markets down as we head into the close, with the FTSE 100 trying to hang on to at least some of its gains.

“This change of tone perfectly encapsulates the clear and present danger of headline risk with respect to market ebb and flow, as investors nervously eye Russia’s next move.”

The Dax, the German index, closed down 0.4%, while its French cousin, the Cac 40, ended 0.1% down.

In New York the S&P 500 was trading down 0.2%, while the Dow Jones was flat, shortly after markets closed in Europe.

In company news, a set of better-than-expected results pushed Barclays shares up by 2.7%.

The business showed that pre-tax profits more than doubled to £8.4 billion in 2021 after releasing bad debt provisions.

Fellow bank Metro also saw its shares rise, by 3.5% after it revealed a narrowing in its loss.

In 2021 it lost £245 million before tax, an improvement from the £311 million it had made the year before.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Hikma, up 66.5p to 2,013p, Barclays, up 5.82p to 195.98p, Hargreaves Lansdown, up 27.5p to 1,122.5p, Antofagasta, up 34p to 1,439.5p, and Smith & Nephew, up 28.5p to 336.6p.

The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Evraz, down 35p to 246p, Kingfisher, down 18p to 295.6p, Royal Mail, down 12p to 390p, JD Sports, down 5p to 155.85p, and CRH, down 103p to 3,465p.