Shares in Ferrexpo tumbled as the iron ore exporter halted production in Ukraine after Russia’s latest assault.
The Ukraine-focused miner said none of its workers were injured following missile strikes on cities such as Kyiv and Lviv but bombs damaged state-owned electrical infrastructure and reduced the power supply available.
As a result, it has ‘temporarily suspended’ production while engineers carry out repairs. Shares sank 4 per cent, or 5.1p, to 121.9p.
Shutdown: Iron ore exporter Ferrexpo has halted production in Ukraine after Russia’s latest missile attacks damaged electrical infrastructure and reduced the power supply available
Liberum maintained its estimates on Ferrexpo after the group insisted it has enough stock to continue selling. Last week, it said eight workers have died while serving in the Ukrainian forces.
The FTSE 100 was down 1.06 per cent, or 74.08 points, to 6885.23 and the FTSE 250, which celebrates its 30th birthday today, slid 1.29 per cent, or 221.23 points, to 16,904.06.
In a sign that Government efforts to calm markets appeared to have fallen short, the Bank of England warned of a ‘material risk’ to financial stability and said it would step in to buy more bonds to ease pressure on the fluctuating price.
In America, JP Morgan Chase boss Jamie Dimon warned the US could face a recession in six to nine months.
With oil prices sliding 2.6 per cent to around $94 a barrel, shares in BP fell 2.1 per cent, or 9.85p, to 452.6p while Shell was down 1.8 per cent, or 41.5p, to 2286p and Harbour Energy tumbled 4.4 per cent, or 19.4p, to 423.4p.
Compass Group gained 0.9 per cent, or 15.5p, to 1808.5p after Citigroup raised the catering giant’s target price to 2260p from 2170p and reiterated a ‘buy’ rating.
Among the mid-cap stocks, thread maker Coats Group hiked its medium-term target on sales growth to 6pc a year from 5 per cent. Shares added 1.3 per cent, or 0.7p, to 52.9p.
Daily Mirror owner Reach appeared to brush aside weaker trading last month as it looked ahead to potential advertising revenue from Black Friday, Christmas and the World Cup.
Revenue fell 4.1 per cent in September following the death of the Queen as newspaper sales rose but advertising income fell. Shares fell 1 per cent, or 0.8p, to 76.25p.
Marks Electrical Group proved consumers still want to spend on household items as it enjoyed increased sales of air fryers, televisions and vacuums.
Sales shot up 15.1 per cent to £43.1million in the six months to the end of September as brokers at Davy said it was a ‘rare beast’ for maintaining its full-year guidance. It rose 4.5 per cent, or 2.5p, to 58.5p.
Sureserve, the social housing energy services group, rose 3.1 per cent, or 2.5p, to 77.5p after its revenue of £585million for the year was 16 per cent higher than 2021.
Pub group Marston’s said strong drink sales have driven encouraging trading. The business, which operates 1,468 pubs and has 12,000 workers, said people are still visiting pubs and it is optimistic about an important winter that includes the football World Cup.
Sales over the ten weeks from July 24 to October 1 were up 4 per cent year-on-year. The stock rose 5.8 per cent, or 2.08p, to 37.98p.
YouGov’s co-founder Stephan Shakespeare plans to step down as chief executive to become chairman in August when current chairman Roger Parry retires and a new chief executive is in place.
Its revenue for the year to the end of July was 31pc higher than a year earlier, at £221.1million, while profit surged 34 per cent to £25.3million. Shares fell 3.7 per cent, or 30p, to 790p.
Robert Walters’ profit for the three months to September 30 was 22 per cent up on a year earlier, at £112million.
It rose 0.4 per cent, or 2p, to 492p.Sofa and flooring seller SCS reported a profit of £16.4million for the year to the end of June – down on £22.7million last year. It gained 3.3 per cent, or 4p, to 125.5p.
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