London’s main stock index under pressure pressured as commodity prices fall

London’s equity bourse was under pressure on Thursday as investors monitored geopolitical headlines and shares of companies tied to commodities fell. A surging British pound also weighed on multinational companies.

The FTSE 100 index
UKX,
-0.87%
dropped 1.2% to 7,515, and the British pound
GBPUSD,
+0.04%
climbed 0.3% to $1.3635. A stronger pound can impact the main index by weighing on blue chips that derive revenue from overseas.

Both Brent
BRN00,
-0.03%
and U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate
CL00,
-0.03%
crude prices fell 2% as investors balanced reports of progress toward a nuclear agreement with Iran against fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine. Shell stock
SHEL,
-1.82%

SHEL,
-1.82%
was down nearly 1%.

Stocks in London were also tracking early losses on Wall Street that came amid increased concerns over a conflict breaking out on European soil due to the Russia-Ukraine tensions.

Read: Blinken to speak at U.N. Security Council on Russia’s ‘threat to peace,’ says State Department

And: Here’s the technology being used to watch Russian troops as Ukraine invasion fears linger

Among the bright spots, shares of Reckitt Benckiser
RKT,
+5.94%
climbed 5% to the top of the gainer’s list after the consumer-goods group gave upbeat margin guidance, and revenue on a same store basis beat expectations. The company also swung to a pretax loss for 2021.

Elsewhere, luxury goods retailer Burberry
BRBY,
+1.32%
got a 1.6% lift after positive results from French luxury conglomerate Kering
KER,
+4.95%.

Banks and the metals sector were also adding to downward pressure in London, with HSBC
HSBC,
-1.78%

HSBA,
-1.50%
dropping 1% after rival Standard Chartered
STAN,
+1.71%
reported profits that fell short of expectations.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/londons-main-stock-index-under-pressure-pressured-as-commodity-prices-fall-11645111313

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