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(Alliance News) - Stocks in London ended higher on Tuesday after Russia adopted a more conciliatory tone in the Ukraine crisis in what could be the first major step towards de-escalation after weeks of tensions.
Western leaders said Tuesday they were seeing positive signs that Russia was looking to ease tensions over Ukraine, after Moscow announced it was pulling back some of the troops deployed on its neighbour's borders.
After a meeting Tuesday with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Moscow, President Vladimir Putin said Russia "of course" did not want war, and was willing to look for solutions with the West.
"We are ready to work further together. We are ready to go down the negotiations track," Putin told a joint press conference with Scholz, confirming a "partial pullback of troops".
The German leader joined others in the West in expressing hope that steps were being taken towards de-escalation in the crisis.
Further, a French government spokesman said it was a "positive signal" if Russian forces were indeed withdrawing, while Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said "every real step of de-escalation would be a reason for hope".
Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg said in Brussels there was not yet "any sign of de-escalation on the ground" but that there were "grounds for cautious optimism".
The FTSE 100 index ended up 77.33 points, or 1.0%, at 7,608.92. The mid-cap FTSE 250 index closed up 234.62 points, or 1.1%, at 21,852.51. The AIM All-Share index finished up 13.78 points, or 1.3%, at 1,078.55.
The Cboe UK 100 index ended up 0.8% at 753.46. The Cboe 250 jumped 0.9% at 19,528.12 and the Cboe Small Companies closed 0.2% higher at 15,468.26.
In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 stock index in Paris rose 1.9% and the DAX 40 in Frankfurt surged 2.0%.
"The mood in the markets is upbeat as the Russian government announced it will start to reduce the number of troops its has stationed on the Ukrainian border, which sent out a message that a conflict is very unlikely to happen," commented Equiti Capital analyst David Madden.
"A few hours ago, President Putin announced that he doesn't want a war in Europe, and that added to optimistic sentiment. Tensions are still high as Moscow is clearly concerned about the possibility of Ukraine joining NATO, but for now traders only seem to care that a war will not break out," Madden added.
In the FTSE 100, AstraZeneca ended the best performer, up 5.8%. The drugmaker and partner Merck & Co late on Monday reported positive trial results for Lynparza in combination with abiraterone in patients with prostate cancer.
Results from the PROpel phase three trial showed Lynparza in combination with abiraterone reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 34% in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer versus just abiraterone alone.
Evraz closed up 4.8% after Goldman Sachs upgraded the Russian steelmaker to 'neutral' from 'sell'.
Glencore closed up 1.0% after the Swiss commodities house unveiled a bumper shareholder return alongside strong 2021 profit growth.
Also in its annual results, Glencore agreed the sale of its interest in Russian oil firm Russneft in December. Completion of the disposal is conditional on regulatory approvals and should occur in the first half of 2022. Glencore, which did not name the buyer or any financial details of the sale, said its investment in Russneft is pledged under a loan facility issued to the company.
Glencore set out plans for USD4.0 billion worth of shareholder returns. Of this, USD3.4 billion will come from a USD0.26 per share base distribution in respect to 2021 cash flow, and USD550 million through a share buyback. Glencore did not pay a dividend in 2020.
At the other end of the large-caps, precious metal miner Fresnillo ended the worst performer, down 3.5%, tracking spot gold prices lower.
The safe-haven metal stood at USD1,848.09 an ounce at the London equities close, depreciating against USD1,865.30 at the same time on Monday.
Oil majors BP and Shell lost 0.8% and 1.1% respectively, tracking spot oil prices lower.
Brent oil was quoted at USD92.50 a barrel at the equities close, down sharply from USD94.70 at the close Monday.
In the FTSE 250, Plus500 ended the worst performer, down 4.1%, after the contract-for-difference provider reported lower revenue and profit last year due to a decline in customer income.
The Haifa, Israel-based provider of online trading platforms registered pretax profit of USD386.4 million for 2021, down 26% from USD523.3 million in 2020, on revenue that fell by 18% to USD718.7 million from USD872.5 million.
The company blamed a decline in customer income for the weaker performance. This fell by 30% to USD702.8 million in 2021 from USD997.5 million the year before.
On AIM, LoopUp Group plunged 37% after the company said it expects a fall in revenue and earnings for 2021 due to lower demand and anticipates annual revenue for 2022 to decline further.
The pound was quoted at USD1.3535 at the London equities close, up from USD1.3520 at the close Monday.
On the economic front, the UK unemployment rate was unchanged at the end of last year, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed.
In the three months to December, the UK unemployment rate was steady at 4.1%, in line with market expectations. The jobless rate in the three months to November also was 4.1%.
Annual growth in total pay - including bonuses - was 4.3%. Regular pay, which excludes bonuses, was up 3.7%. Both failed to keep pace with the UK's annual consumer price index inflation rate in December of 5.4%.
The euro stood at USD1.1365 at the European equities close, up from USD1.1300.
On the continent, the eurozone economy advanced in the fourth quarter of 2021, according to the latest flash estimate by Eurostat on Tuesday, shaking off the emergence of the Omicron variant.
Year-on-year, the bloc's economy grew 4.6% in the final three months of 2021, in line with a first estimate by Eurostat.
Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JPY115.70, up from JPY115.58 late Monday.
Stocks in New York were sharply higher at the London equities close on Russia-Ukraine hopes as investors shrugged off evidence of intensifying US inflation.
The DJIA was up 1.3%, the S&P 500 index up 1.5% and the Nasdaq Composite up 2.0%.
Annual US producer price slowed in January but came in hotter than expected, figures from the Department of Labor showed on Tuesday.
Annual US producer price inflation stood at 9.7% in January, slowing a touch from 9.8% in December.
January's yearly producer price growth markedly exceeded market consensus cited by FXStreet of 9.1%, however.
On the corporate front, Marriott International jumped 4.7% as the hotel chain recovered from the blow dealt by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The hotel chain reported USD468 million in net income in the fourth quarter, swinging from a loss of USD164 million in the year-ago period, as revenue more than doubled.
The economic events calendar on Wednesday has UK inflation readings at 0700 GMT and US retail sales figures at 1330 GMT.
The UK corporate calendar on Wednesday has annual results from soft drinks bottler Coca-Cola Europacific Partners and drugmaker Indivior.
By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com
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