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A sweeping selloff across global markets on Monday, tied to over a potential Russia-Ukraine war, was contained somewhat in London, thanks to gains for a two or three stocks.
The FTSE 100 index
UKX,
dropped 1.3% to 7,561.44, but was faring better than some European indexes where losses topped 2%. The pound
GBPUSD,
fell 0.2% to $1.353 against the dollar, while the yield on the 10-year gilt
TMBMKGB-10Y,
fell 2 basis points to 1.519%. The FTSE’s gains for the year now stand at just 2%.
Global markets have swinging around on headlines linked to the standoff between the West and Russia, which has massed thousands of troops on Ukraine’s border, sparking concerns of an imminent invasion.
Read: What a Russian invasion of Ukraine would mean for markets as Biden warns Putin of ‘severe costs’
Some calm entered Monday after Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov suggested to President Vladimir Putin that his country continue diplomatic efforts. Putin reportedly responded: “All right.”
Only a handful of sectors were in the black, including tobacco, with shares of heavily weighted British American Tobacco
BATS,
BATS,
up more than 1%, and U.K. steelmaker Evraz
EVR,
which has Russian operations and climbed nearly 20%. Fresnillo shares
FRES,
rose 5.4%.
Airline stocks were under considerable selling pressure, amid concerns any conflict in Ukraine could cause travel conflicts. Shares of International Consolidated Airlines
IAG,
tumbled more than 5%, while Wizz Air stock
WIZZ,
tumbled 7%.
Wobbling crude prices drove the heavily influential energy sector to outsized losses, with shares of BP
BP,
BP,
down 4% and Shell
SHEL,
SHEL,
off more than 2%.
