MARKET REPORT

sion.barry@walesonline.co.uk LONDON-LISTED Russian stocks slumped yesterday as companies suffered from delayed investor reaction to the launch of US sanctions against Moscow on Friday.

The FTSE 100 was up 0.15% or 11.11 points at 7,194.75, but was dragged down by Russian mining company Evraz, which held the bottom spot on the blue chip index after falling 65.1p to 385.4p.

It follow’s Friday’s launch of US sanctions on a raft of highprofile Russian business people and their companies as well as senior officials over what the US Treasury called a “range of malign activity around the globe”, including continued occupation of Crimea and the supply of weaponry to the Assad regime in Syria. The US also cited “malicious cyber activities” and attempts to “subvert Western democracies”.

David Madden, market analyst at CMC Markets UK, said: “Evraz shares have tumbled after the US imposed sanctions on Russian tycoons.

“Relations between the US and Russia have deteriorated over the situation in Syria.

“The steel maker has large exposure to Russia, and the stock also came under pressure during the Russia/ Ukraine conflict in 2014.”

He noted that BP was also feeling the pinch on account of its exposure to Russia through its stake in Rosneft, with the oil giant among the worst performers on the FTSE 100, down 4.85p at 493.55p.

Away from the blue chip index, shares in energy firm EN+ fell 41% or 4.05p to 5.6p, while Polymetal tumbled 18% or 133p to 591p.

Across Europe, the French Cac 40 and German Dax rose 0.1% and 0.17% respectively.

In currency markets, sterling was on the rise, up 0.3% against the US dollar at 1.413 and up 0.3% versus the euro at 1.147, thanks in part to solid UK house price data.

Brent crude jumped 2.3% to around $68.58 per barrel as geopolitical concerns in Syria supported commodity prices.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Associated British Foods up 77p at 2,572p, WPP up 26p at 1,188.5p, Micro Focus International up 22.5p at 1,151p, and International Consolidated Airlines Group up 9.2p at 624.8p.

The biggest fallers were Evraz down 65.1p at 385.4p, Glencore down 12p at 339.15p, Fresnillo down 20.5p at 1,221.5p, and Smurfit Kappa Group down 46p at 3,012p.