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(Alliance News) - Stocks in London ended higher on Tuesday on signs of progress in peace talks between Ukraine and Russia.
In the latest developments, Russia said it would scale down fighting around two Ukrainian cities following "meaningful" talks with Ukraine on Tuesday, as officials raised the prospect of a meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian presidents.
The outcome of the face-to-face talks at a palace in Istanbul raised hopes around the world after more than a month of conflict that has left thousands dead and forced millions from their homes.
On the ground, Ukraine said seven people were killed by a Russian strike on a regional government building in the southern port city of Mykolaiv.
But Ukrainian negotiator David Arakhamia said there were now "sufficient" conditions for talks between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Russian Deputy Defence Minister Alexander Fomin meanwhile said there had been progress in talks on "the neutrality and non-nuclear status of Ukraine".
Therefore "a decision has been made to radically, by several times reduce the military activity" around the capital Kyiv and the city of Chernigiv, he said.
The FTSE 100 index closed up 64.11 points, or 0.9%, at 7,537.25. The mid-cap FTSE 250 index surged 421.94 points, or 2.0%, at 21,491.97. The AIM All-Share index ended up 8.80 points, or 0.9%, at 1,046.39.
The Cboe UK 100 index was closed up 0.6% at 749.10. The Cboe 250 closed up 2.2% at 18,899.78, and the Cboe Small Companies closed 1.1% higher at 15,347.88.
In Paris the CAC 40 stock index ended up 3.1%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt ended up 2.8%.
Stocks in New York were higher at the London equities close. The DJIA was up 0.7%, the S&P 500 index up 0.6% and the Nasdaq Composite up 1.1%.
IG Group's Chris Beauchamp said: "Today's market has the feel of trades being unwound, as short positions in stocks are closed, and latecomers to the oil rally are chased out, following news that Russia was continuing to scale back operations around Kiev and that talks between the two sides continued to provide some progress. Russian forces are being redeployed towards eastern Ukraine it seems, which suggests that the attempt to overrun the whole country, or at least seize the capital, has been halted for the time being."
In the FTSE 100, Ocado Group ended up 6.8% despite numbers from Kantar showing its grocery sales and market share fell in the 12 weeks to March 2022.
Ocado's sales fell 6.7% annually and the online grocer's market share slipped to 1.8% from 1.9%. However, its sales were 25% higher on a two-year basis.
Kantar analyst Fraser McKevitt commented: "Two years on since the first lockdown, we can assess what permanent changes the pandemic has made to the grocery landscape. The real story of Covid-19 has been the acceleration of online shopping, and retailers have built their digital capacity to match a seismic change in demand."
McKevitt noted 13% of sales during the 12-weeks were made online, compared to 8% three years earlier.
Croda International closed up 5.3% after the speciality chemicals company outlined its aim to lift the fortunes of its Consumer Care division.
The personal care arm, which part of Consumer Care, includes the Sederma skin care brand.
The unit was bolstered by the EUR820 million acquisition of Spanish fragrances firm Iberchem, announced in November 2020. By 2025, Croda targets sales of GBP1 billion in Consumer Care, up from GBP763 million in 2021.
At the other end of the large-caps, Barclays ended down 2.8% after JPMorgan downgraded the bank to 'neutral' from 'overweight'.
Oil majors BP and Shell ended down 2.5% and 1.9% respectively, tracking spot oil prices lower.
Brent oil was quoted at USD109.35 a barrel at the equities close, down sharply from USD111.48 at the close Monday.
"The sell-off in oil prices is mainly due to the concerns among traders about the new lockdown in China, which has sent oil prices tumbling. Interestingly, this has occurred ahead of the OPEC meeting, taking place on Thursday this week. So far, traders have been worried about the supply shortage due to the increase in oil demand and geopolitical tensions in Ukraine," AvaTrade analyst Naeem Aslam said.
"However, China is one of the biggest consumers of oil, and the cities that have gone under a full lockdown are the backbone of China. Shutting down these cities means a severe reduction in oil," Aslam added.
In the FTSE 250, Ukraine-focused iron ore pellet producer Ferrexpo was the best performer, up 17%, amid hopes for a ceasefire.
At the other end of the mid-caps, Bellway closed down 3.9% after the housebuilder warned of a potentially chunkier provisions for flammable cladding than initially expected, as it reported interim results.
For the first half ended January 31, Bellway's revenue rose 3.5% yearly to GBP1.78 billion from GBP1.72 billion. Pretax profit climbed 9.8% to GBP307.6 million from GBP280.2 million a year earlier.
Bellway lifted its by payout 29% to 45.0 pence from 35.0p.
"We also recognise the government's ambition that builders agree to self-remediate life-critical fire safety issues, over an extended timespan of 30 years. This is beyond the scope of our existing provision, and if agreed, it would require Bellway to extend the period covered by its assessment by a further 18-to-20 years and would result in a significant, additional provision," Bellway said.
The pound was quoted at USD1.3135 at the London equities close, up from USD1.3090 at the close Monday.
The euro stood at USD1.1113 at the European equities close, sharply higher USD1.0973 late Monday. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JPY122.57 in London, down from JPY123.32.
Gold stood at USD1,910.78 an ounce at the London equities close, lower against USD1,937.20 late Monday.
The economic events calendar on Wednesday has Germany inflation data at 1300 BST and US economic growth figures at 1330 BST.
The UK corporate calendar on Wednesday has annual results from Keywords Studios, Inspired and Team17.
By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com
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