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* Unilever, Vodafone top FTSE 100 gainers
* UK midcaps drop to 10-month lows
* Informa drops on plans to auction data provider Citeline
* FTSE 100 down 2.6%, FTSE 250 off 3.6%
(Updates to market close)
By Shashank Nayar and Ambar Warrick
Jan 24 (Reuters) - Britain's midcap stock index slumped to a
10-month low on Monday as rising concerns over Russia and
Ukraine rattled global equities, while reports of dealmaking
activity helped Unilever and Vodafone outperform.
The domestically focused mid-cap index tumbled 3.6%
to its lowest since March 2021, while the blue-chip FTSE 100
index fell 2.6% to a one-month low.
Most sectors were in the red, as the tension between Russia
and the West, along with anticipation of major central bank
meetings this week prompted losses across global markets.
Unilever jumped 7.3% to the top of the FTSE 100 as
a source said Trian Partners, Nelson Peltz's activist hedge
fund, had built up a stake in the consumer goods maker. Trian
and Unilever declined to comment.
Vodafone surged 4.5% after sources said it was in
talks with telecom peer Iliad to strike a merger deal in Italy.
Iliad and Vodafone declined to comment.
The FTSE 100 sank for a third straight session, but has
still outperformed the pan-European STOXX 600 index as
commodity-linked stocks benefited from a jump in oil and metal
prices last week.
Investors are now awaiting signals from the U.S. Federal
Reserve on Wednesday on when the central bank intends to begin
raising interest rates this week- a move that is widely expected
to pressure equities.
"The broader bearish sentiment has really taken off ahead of
the Fed meeting, with definite bets of a rate hike in March, and
investors now looking to figure out if there will be three or
four hikes this year," said David Madden, market analyst at
Equiti Capital.
The tension between Russia and Ukraine has affected wider
risk sentiment, but it could be a positive for UK equities in
the near term as escalations could push oil prices higher,
Madden added.
Events organiser Informa fell 5.5% on plans to
auction its clinical trial data provider Citeline at a possible
valuation of 1.2 billion pounds ($1.63 billion), sources told
Reuters.
(Reporting by Shashank Nayar in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak
Dasgupta and Alison Williams)
