London and Wall Street markets recover despite Ukraine worries

The FTSE 100 ended the day up 99.36 points, or 1.36%, at 7,429.56 points.

The FTSE 100 Index made gains on Wednesday (Kirsty O’Connor/PA) (PA Archive)

London’s leading shares made strong gains despite further uncertainty in Ukraine as recent volatility continued across Europe’s markets.

Recent wild movements in the markets were highlighted by contrasting fortunes from the two Russian companies set to drop from the FTSE 100, Polymetal and Evraz.

Polymetal sprang by a fifth while Roman Abramovich-backed Evraz plunged by more than 30%.

The FTSE 100 ended the day up 99.36 points, or 1.36%, at 7,429.56 points.

“The see-saw moves in stock markets continue,” commented Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG.

“Today has seen the dip buyers emerge and take control of the session, with the upward move gathering pace throughout the afternoon.

“Some dip buyers will hang their hopes on the use of ‘uncertain’ by the Fed to suggest the pace of tightening will be slowed, and others will be reasoning that for now the sanctions shock has worn off.”

In continental Europe, this helped sentiment stay slightly aloft but nevertheless came after a particularly heavy slump on Tuesday.

The French Cac was up 1.81% and the German Dax was 0.86% higher at the end of the session.

Across the Atlantic, Wall Street remained positive as Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell confirmed plans to hike interest rates this month.

Meanwhile sterling launched its recovery against the wavering dollar.

The pound increased by 0.35% against the dollar to 1.336, while it fell 0.05% against the euro to 1.202.

In company news, housebuilder Persimmon moved higher after it enjoyed a boost in revenues and rising house prices due to the strong property market.

Nevertheless, the company said it could see disruption to the UK economy as a result of the conflict in Ukraine, which is expected to push inflation further.

Shares in Persimmon lifted by 48p to 2,370p at the end of trading.

Office giant Workspace finished lower for the day after it agreed a £272 million deal to buy commercial property firm McKay Securities amid the continued shift towards hybrid working.

Workspace closed 30p lower at 739p after sealing the 297p-per-share move for McKay.

Shareholders in listed rival McKay were much more pleased with the deal, sending their shares 65.5p higher to 288p.

Engineering group Weir said that the financial impact of a cyberattack last year was at the lower end of its expectations, helping its shares to move higher.

The firm, which has its headquarters in Glasgow, reported that it benefited from “robust action” to the ransomware attack, as it posted an 18% increase in profits.

Shares in the firm rose by 158p to 1,678.5p.

The price of oil struck another seven-year high as Brent crude soared by 4.35% to 109.54 US dollars per barrel when the London markets closed.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Polymetal, up 48p at 306.9p, Rolls-Royce, up 6.23p at 98.23p, Melrose, up 8.35p at 141.75p, Prudential, up 66p at 1,129p, and Whitbread, up 143p at 2,844p.

The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Evraz, down 42.85p at 60p, Royal Mail, down 28.8p at 359p, Coca-Cola HBC, down 102p at 1,670.5p, Flutter Entertainment, down 324p at 9,132p, and Fresnillo, down 22p at 702.8p.