LONDON, (Reuters) –Worries over global trade tensions took a backseat as Britain’s top share index advanced yesterday, though stocks exposed to Russia fell after a fresh round of US sanctions.
The blue chip FTSE 100 index was up 0.2 percent at 7,194.26 points by 0902 GMT as banks and industrials rallied, while mid-caps were flat in percentage terms.
Last week global risk assets were hit by the prospect of a full-blown trade war after the US and China threatened each other with tens of billions of dollars’ worth of tariffs.
Those fears eased after US President Donald Trump predicted on Sunday there would be concessions from China. But a fresh round of US sanctions on Russian businessmen hit shares in several Russia-exposed companies on the FTSE.
Shares in Russian steelmaker Evraz were the biggest fallers, down nearly 10 percent. Miner Glencore also fell 2.4 percent, while mid-cap Polymetal was down 5.3 percent.
Shares in Jersey-based EN+ Group, which manages the assets of tycoon Oleg Deripaska, dropped 27.5 percent.
“Glencore and the miners will definitely be (down) as a result of the Russian situation. If we see further escalations, we might look to go a little bit more bearish on these particular stocks in these particular sectors,” Jasper Reimers, senior analyst at Vertex Capital Group, said.
“At this stage, there’s no major concern – I don’t think there are any major escalations just yet.”
