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(Alliance News) - Stocks in London ended higher on Wednesday as investors continued to track the war in Ukraine, while in the US, Netflix weighed on the tech-heavy Nasdaq index.
After nearly two months under siege, the southern city of Mariupol could fall into Russian hands within "hours", a Ukrainian official said, as the two sides agreed on Wednesday to a humanitarian corridor to allow civilians to flee the devastated port city.
As fighting raged in the country's east and south, the president of the European Council Charles Michel arrived in Kyiv, in the latest sign of strengthening ties between Ukraine and the EU.
Meanwhile, finance officials from the world's richest countries will meet on Wednesday to address global challenges like rising debt and a possible food crisis - if they can overcome boiling tensions over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The finance officials will gather virtually on the sidelines of the World Bank and IMF's spring meetings in Washington.
Ahead of the event, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said global cooperation "must and will continue," pointing to a long list of issues that "no country can solve on its own."
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will boycott some sessions if Russian officials are present, according to a senior US official, a stance other countries have said they will follow.
However, other G20 members, particularly China and India, have so far abstained from condemning Russia in the various UN resolutions, highlighting cracks within the G20 membership.
The FTSE 100 index closed up 27.94 points, or 0.4%, at 7,629.22. The mid-cap FTSE 250 index closed up 121.83 points, or 0.6%, at 21,084.00. The AIM All-Share index lost 0.70 of a point at 1,055.02.
The Cboe UK 100 index ended up 0.2% at 759.01. The Cboe 250 closed up 0.4% at 18,533.04, and the Cboe Small Companies rose 0.1% at 15,357.21.
In Paris the CAC 40 ended up 1.4%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt ended up 1.5%.
"Equity markets in Europe are higher thanks to the bullish session in the US last night. Even though the war in Ukraine persists, the mood in the markets is upbeat. Although there is speculation that Western governments will announce additional sanctions on Russia, the fact it has yet to happen has acted as a green light to the bulls," commented Equiti Capital analyst David Madden.
In the FTSE 100, CRH ended the best performer, up 5.9%, after the Irish building materials firm said it has started 2022 on a strong footing, with growth in earnings and sales expected for the first half.
CRH expects sales, Ebitda, and margin for its half-year to be ahead of the first half of the prior year, when Ebitda came in at USD2.0 billion. The Dublin-based firm expects positive demand in North America to continue, and its Europe Materials business to be able to weather the negative impacts of energy cost volatility and the war in Ukraine to deliver a like-for-like Ebitda ahead of the prior year.
Equipment rentals firm Ashtead Group, which makes a bulk of its revenue in the US, closed up 4.0% in a positive read-across.
SSE closed up 2.3% after the energy company agreed to buy Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy's existing European renewable energy development platform for EUR580 million. Around half the portfolio is located in Spain with the remainder across France, Italy and Greece. Power utility SSE noted the transaction marks its entry into southern Europe.
At the other end of the large-caps, Rio Tinto closed down 4.8%. The Anglo-Australian miner reported a "challenging" quarter for its key Pilbara iron ore operations, though the company left annual guidance unchanged.
In the first three months of 2022, total iron ore shipments from the Western Australia-located asset fell 8% annually to 71.5 million tonnes. Quarter-on-quarter, shipments declined by 15%. Iron ore production from Pilbara fell 6% yearly to 71.7 million tonnes and 15% from the fourth quarter of 2021.
In the FTSE 250, Petershill Partners ended up 5.7% after posting a maiden profit as a listed company, declaring a dividend and setting out plans for a USD50 million share buyback.
The investment vehicle managed by Goldman Sachs Asset Management had its initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange in late September last year, raising USD720 million.
Pretax profit for the period running from March 24 to December 31 was USD260.5 million. Income was USD137.5 million, while the positive change in fair value of investments was USD234.0 million.
At the other end of the mid-caps, Oxford BioMedica was by far the worst performer, down 15%, after warning it will swing to a loss in 2022 and revenue will fall as Covid-19 vaccine manufacturing for AstraZeneca will take a pause.
The Oxford-based company, which develops gene and cell therapies and manufactures drugs for other pharmaceutical firms, said talks with FTSE 100-listed AstraZeneca for a possible extension of a supply deal are continuing.
Elsewhere, Just Eat Takeaway.com closed up 2.1% after the food delivery firm said it was exploring a partial or full sale of its Grubhub US food delivery unit.
These could include introducing a "strategic partner" in order to sell a stake, or even all of its holding in Grubhub, which it agreed to purchase back in June 2020 for USD7.3 billion.
The dollar was lower across the board. The pound was quoted at USD1.3045 at the London equities close, up from USD1.2997 at the close Tuesday.
The euro stood at USD1.0860 at the European equities close, higher against USD1.0785. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JPY127.70, down from JPY128.77 late Tuesday.
New York was mostly higher at the London equities close. The DJIA was up 1.0% and the S&P 500 index was up 0.4%, but the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was down 0.4%.
On Wall Street, Netflix lost a third of its market value in one day alone after the streaming services provider late Tuesday reported its first drop in quarterly subscriptions in a decade.
The Los Gatos, California-based company blamed the quarter-on-quarter erosion to suspension of its service in Russia due to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. Further, the firm pointed to a large number of households sharing accounts, combined with rising competition from the likes of Hulu, Apple Inc and Walt Disney Co which has stifled revenue growth. Netflix reported a loss of 200,000 subscribers during the first quarter, having previously guided to add 2.5 million net subscribers during the period.
The drop in shares was also reminiscent to the prior quarter, when a weak subscriber outlook sent Netflix shares diving. The stock was down 36% giving it a market capitalisation of USD98.47 billion.
ITV shares closed down 2.3% in a negative read-across from Netflix. The UK broadcaster at the start of March unveiled plans to launch a new streaming service, dubbed ITVX and touted digital-first content investment of GBP160 million in 2023.
Brent oil was quoted at USD107.55 a barrel at the equities close, soft from USD107.80 at the close Tuesday.
Gold stood quoted at USD1,952.11 an ounce at the London equities close, lower against USD1,953.33 late Tuesday.
The economic events calendar on Thursday has eurozone inflation data at 1000 BST and the latest US jobless claims numbers at 1330 BST.
The UK corporate calendar on Thursday has trading statements from information and analytics provider Relx, pest control company Rentokil Initial and stockbroker AJ Bell.
By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com
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