Source: Sharecast
The FTSE 100 ended the session down 0.83% at 7,515.68, and the FTSE 250 was off 0.53% at 21,160.07.
Sterling was in positive territory, last gaining 0.04% on the dollar to $1.3139, and strengthening 0.73% against the euro to trade at €1.1857.
“The first quarter of 2022 has been a rough one for investors to navigate,” said AJ Bell financial analyst Danni Hewson.
“Volatility has been the name of the game as levers were pulled to curb rising prices, and war undermined many of those efforts.
“Of the 10 main global indices, only London’s blue-chip FTSE 100 has emerged from the last three months in better shape than it went in, boosted by miners and energy giants cashing in on runaway commodity prices.”
Russian president Vladimir Putin signalled that he could override European gas supply contracts earlier in the afternoon, unless what he termed “unfriendly” states paid for the commodity in rubles from Friday.
“To buy Russian gas, they need to open rouble accounts in Russian banks,” Putin said in a TV appearance.
“It is from those accounts that gas will be paid for, starting 1 April.
“If such payments aren’t made, we will consider this a failure by the client to comply with its obligations.”
According to an order signed by Putin, gas buyers should open accounts with the state-controlled Gazprombank to facilitate currency exchange on purchases.
The G7 - US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Canada - has so far refused to meet his demand.
Oil prices, meanwhile, fell through the session as traders watched for a big release of reserves by US president Joe Biden, designed to stem inflation in the US economy.
Biden was close to announcing the third - and possibly biggest - release of emergency oil stocks since November, according to reports.
The release was expected to last several months and consist of up to one million barrels per day, the Financial Times said.
Brent crude futures were last down 4.54% on ICE at $108.30 per barrel, and the NYMEX quote for West Texas Intermediate was 3.56% lower at $103.98.
On the data front, the UK economy grew at a faster pace than initially estimated in the fourth quarter of last year, according to the Office for National Statistics.
GDP rose by 1.3% compared to the previous quarter, up from an initial estimate of 1% growth and from revised 0.9% growth in the third quarter.
That left the economy just 0.1% below where it was before the pandemic.
According to the ONS, the largest contributors to the increase were human health and social work activities, driven by increased GP visits at the start of the quarter, and a large jump in Covid testing and tracing activities, as well as the extension of the vaccination programme.
Annual GDP growth was revised a touch for both 2020 and 2021.
It was now estimated to have increased by 7.4% in 2021 versus 7.5% previously, following a revised 9.3% decline in 2020, versus 9.4% previously.
Meanwhile, consumer spending growth was revised down to 0.5% quarter-on-quarter from 1.2%.
Paul Dales, chief UK economist at Capital Economics, said the upward revision to GDP growth in Q4 might not be as encouraging as it looked, however, as a lot of it appeared due to inventories while consumer spending was revised down.
"The latter suggests the squeeze on real incomes is starting to bite, although the fall in the saving rate is providing a cushion," he said.
In equity markets, Vodafone was knocked 3.54% lower by a downgrade to ‘underperform’ at Exane, while CMC Markets skidded 12.54% after Canaccord lowered its rating to ‘sell’, and cut its price target to 257p.
Next shares were 3.86% weaker after disappointing first-quarter results from Swedish high-street competitor H&M.
Provident Financial reversed earlier gains to close down 3.4%, even after it reinstated its dividend as the subprime lender returned to profit after bad-debt provisions fell.
On the upside, Pearson was ahead 1.54%, having tumbled on Wednesday after US investment firm Apollo said it would not make a takeover offer for the educational publisher.
Halma was in the black by 0.84% after an upgrade to ‘hold’ at HSBC.
Elsewhere, Brewin Dolphin rocketed 61.01% after the wealth manager agreed to be bought by Royal Bank of Canada in a £1.6bn deal.
Rathbone Group also racked up healthy gains, closing 12.24% firmer.
Trainline jumped 26.14% after it agreed to reduce the commission it receives for selling train tickets as part of a review by the rail industry.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,515.68 -0.83%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 21,160.07 -0.53%
techMARK (TASX) 4,328.46 -1.03%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Pearson (PSON) 750.60p 1.54%
Severn Trent (SVT) 3,078.00p 1.25%
Prudential (PRU) 1,134.00p 0.93%
Halma (HLMA) 2,510.00p 0.84%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 1,785.50p 0.82%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 1,124.50p 0.81%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) 7,958.00p 0.68%
Electrocomponents (ECM) 1,084.00p 0.56%
3i Group (III) 1,388.50p 0.54%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 5,832.00p 0.53%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Royal Mail (RMG) 329.00p -4.78%
WPP (WPP) 1,003.00p -4.75%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,662.00p -3.96%
Next (NXT) 6,032.00p -3.86%
Kingfisher (KGF) 255.40p -3.62%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 124.84p -3.54%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 252.70p -3.29%
Phoenix Group Holdings (PHNX) 614.00p -3.19%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 130.70p -3.11%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 148.25p -3.04%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Brewin Dolphin Holdings (BRW) 512.00p 61.01%
Trainline (TRN) 250.00p 26.14%
Rathbone Group (RAT) 1,970.00p 12.24%
Ascential (ASCL) 346.60p 4.08%
AJ Bell (AJB) 304.00p 3.33%
Vesuvius (VSVS) 341.60p 3.26%
Bridgepoint Group (Reg S) (BPT) 351.50p 2.93%
Moonpig Group (MOON) 224.00p 2.66%
BH Macro Ltd. GBP Shares (BHMG) 4,070.00p 2.52%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 988.00p 2.28%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
CMC Markets (CMCX) 254.50p -12.54%
Frasers Group (FRAS) 634.00p -5.72%
SSP Group (SSPG) 227.20p -5.61%
Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 190.00p -4.67%
Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 1,140.00p -4.36%
Travis Perkins (TPK) 1,237.00p -4.03%
Mitie Group (MTO) 55.10p -3.84%
Micro Focus International (MCRO) 404.70p -3.76%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 985.20p -3.74%
Future (FUTR) 2,602.00p -3.70%
