Markets slip back as commodity prices rebound

Europe’s biggest markets lost ground as talks between Ukraine and Russia showed little progress and commodity prices lurched forward again.

The drift also reflected a notable sell-off as wider trading sentiment remained fragile despite the strong jump witnessed on Wednesday.

The FTSE 100 ended the day down 91.63 points, or 1.27%, at 7,099.09 points on Thursday.

Once again, the more volatile markets in mainland Europe suffered heavier slumps as trader pessimism returned.

The French Cac was down 2.83% and the German Dax dropped 2.93% by the end of the session.

Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets, said the fall back to earth highlighted “widespread naivety on the part of markets” over talks between Russia and Ukraine.

He said: “Yesterday’s market rebound turned out to be as big a leap of faith as most people supposed it might be, as today’s peace talks in Turkey between Ukraine foreign minister Kuleba and Russian foreign minister Lavrov got under way, and then finished just as quickly.

“It soon became rapidly apparent that Lavrov had no mandate to decide on anything, and consequently the talks turned out to be every bit as useful as a chocolate teapot, with the Russian Foreign Minister seemingly more interested in trying to justify yesterday’s bombing of a children’s hospital in Mariupol than indulging in proper diplomacy.”

On Wall Street, the key US markets also opened lower in the wake of the weaker tone in Europe.

Meanwhile, the pound decreased by 0.12% against the dollar to 1.311, and dropped 0.02% against the euro to 1.191, after the European currency benefited from the European Central Bank holding its monetary policy.

In company news, FTSE 100 steel firm Evraz, which is 29%-owned by Roman Abramovich, saw its shares drop before being suspended by the financial watchdog due to the links with the oligarch.

It came after the billionaire Chelsea owner was struck by UK government sanctions and his assets were frozen.

Shares in the company were down 11.65p at 80.89p before their suspension at midday.

National Express slipped into the red as it said it is “considering its options” after being jilted by merger partner Stagecoach in favour of a higher rival bid.

The coach operator remained tight-lipped on any further bid plans after Stagecoach ditched its support for their £1.9 billion tie-up on Wednesday and backed a £595 million takeover by German investment group DWS Infrastructure.

Shares in National Express finished 3p lower at 238.8p on Thursday.

Elsewhere, Boohoo shares jolted higher after the online fashion firm said the growth in net sales over the three months to the end of February had reached 7%, adding to a strong year for the company

Shares bounced 10.4p higher to 89.28 after it rebounded from a five-year low in its price from earlier this week.

The price of oil swung back higher as Brent crude climbed by 0.25% to 111.42 US dollars per barrel when the London markets closed.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Glencore, up 27.9p at 498p, Antofagasta, up 70p at 1,568p, Spirax-Sarco, up 500p at 11,825p, and Fresnillo, up 16.6p at 766.2p.

The biggest fallers of the day were Evraz, down 11.65p at 80.89p, Persimmon, down 215p at 2,120p, Melrose, down 10.35p at 113.7p, and CRH, down 188p at 3,023p.