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(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London turned sharply lower at midday on Friday on concerns over aggressive monetary policy tightening from the US Federal Reserve and tensions over Ukraine.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday that Moscow doesn't want war but will not allow its interests to be ignored.
The West has accused Russia of massing 100,000 troops on the border with Ukraine and has threatened unprecedented sanctions if Moscow invades.
"If it depends on Russia, there will be no war. We do not want wars," Lavrov said in an interview with the heads of four Russian radio stations.
The FTSE 100 index was down 105.14 points, or 1.4%, at 7,449.17. The mid-cap FTSE 250 index was down 203.02 points, or 0.9%, at 21,651.55. The AIM All-Share index was down 7.09 points, or 0.7%, at 1,079.55.
The Cboe UK 100 index was down 1.3% at 740.51. The Cboe 250 was down 0.9% at 19,432.88, and the Cboe Small Companies down 0.7% at 15,424.21.
In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 stock index in Paris was down 1.3% and the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was 1.8% lower.
"Geopolitical tensions remain on simmer, with some discussion between the US and Russia offering hope amid the build up of Russian troops along the Ukrainian border. Given the fragility of sentiment already in evidence in most global markets at present, any developments are likely to cause a sharp reaction across markets as investors digest the implications of the latest moves," said interactive investor's Richard Hunter.
In the FTSE 100, abrdn was the best performer, up 1.9%, after the fund manager sold a substantial stake in Phoenix Group and pledge to return proceeds to shareholders.
The fund manager sold 40 million shares in Phoenix to institutional investors, at a price of 660 pence per share raising gross proceeds of GBP264 million. Phoenix shares were down 3.6% at 661.40p.
Phoenix will not receive any proceeds from the placing, as it was of existing shares.
Following the disposal, abrdn will have around a 10% stake remaining in Phoenix Group, and abrdn will continue to appoint a director to Phoenix's board. abrdn intends to return the net proceeds of the Phoenix share sale to abrdn shareholders, with the timing of the return to be announced after the company's results on March 1.
ITV was up 0.8% after Barclays raised the broadcaster to Overweight from Equal Weight.
At the other end of the large-caps, Ocado Group was the worst performer, down 6.8%. The online grocer said its ongoing legal battle with US rival Autostore Technology has been put on hold by a German court after questions were raised over the action.
Munich District Court suspended proceedings brought by Ocado for an order to block the sale of AutoStore's B1 robot in Germany, amid concerns about Ocado's intellectual property rights.
The court considered that, despite Ocado having made significant last-minute amendments to the claims for its utility models, they are likely to be invalid.
It said this is because the claims are seeking to cover more than had been disclosed in the application for the utility models as originally filed, and told Ocado it is trying to make a claim over technology it did not invent.
Associated British Foods was down 3.1% after Goldman Sachs downgraded the Primark fashion chain owner to Sell from Neutral.
In the FTSE 250, Oxford BioMedica was the biggest faller, down 6.9%. The gene and cell therapy company has agreed to acquire majority ownership of a newly formed business in the US focused on adeno-associated viruses which are known infect humans and other primates.
Oxford BioMedica said it has entered into an agreement with Massachusetts-based genetic medicines company Homology Medicines Inc to acquire an 80% ownership interest in the newly formed Oxford Biomedica Solutions for USD175 million.
In addition, Oxford Biomedica added it will raise total gross proceeds of GBP80 million through a placing 4.9 million shares. The net proceeds will fund the company's existing capital requirements, cover the expenses of the transaction and provide additional working capital for the group.
Elsewhere, Sabre Insurance was up 7.0% after the motor insurance underwriter signed a five-year agreement with Freeway Insurance Services - a distributor of taxi insurance in the UK.
The dollar was stronger against rivals. The pound was quoted at USD1.3385 at midday on Friday, down from USD1.3393 at the London equities close Thursday.
The euro was priced at USD1.1132, down from USD1.1152. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JPY115.62, up from JPY115.42.
Brent oil was quoted at USD89.85 a barrel on Friday at midday, down slightly from USD89.88 late Thursday. Gold stood at USD1,781.80 an ounce, lower against USD1,794.49.
New York was pointed mostly lower on Friday as investors continued to react to a hawkish statement from the US central bank on Wednesday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was called down 0.3%, the S&P 500 up 0.3%, but the Nasdaq Composite up 0.1%, based on futures trading. The indices had closed marginally lower, down 0.5% and 1.4% respectively on Thursday.
On the corporate front, Apple shares will be in focus after the iPhone maker late Thursday reported a strong start to its financial year, as revenue continued to be lifted on growth in iPhone and Mac sales.
For the three months ended December 25, net income rose 20% to USD34.63 billion from USD28.76 billion the same period a year before. Meanwhile, diluted earnings per share jumped 25% to USD2.10 from USD1.68, growing ahead of market forecasts cited by CNN which tipped EPS of USD1.90.
This was on sales which continued to break records, growing 11% year-on-year to USD123.95 billion from USD111.44 billion, also beating market forecasts of sales amounting to USD119.0 billion.
The stock was up 3.6% in pre-market trade in New York.
By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com
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