UK's FTSE slips back

A trader monitors the screen on a trading floor in London.

A trader monitors the screen on a trading floor in London.

Published Aug 12, 2014

Share

London - Britain's benchmark equity index slipped on Tuesday as tensions between the West and Russia over Ukraine kept investors on edge, while investment group

Hargreaves Lansdown fell on negative broker comments.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 index edged down 0.1 percent, or 8.06 points, to 6,624.76 points in early trading.

The FTSE rose 1 percent on Monday after Russia said it would pull troops back from near the Ukrainian border, which investors

interpreted as a sign of that tensions could ease.

But a convoy of 280 trucks which Russia said was carrying humanitarian aid for Ukraine set off on Tuesday, amid Western warnings to Moscow against using help as a pretext for an invasion.

Ukraine also reported that Russia had massed 45,000 troops on its border.

“The Ukraine situation is going to be simmering for a while. We had a good bounce back yesterday, but we're still in a downtrend. I'd still be selling any decent rallies,” said

Berkeley Futures associate director Richard Griffiths.

Hargreaves Lansdown was the worst FTSE 100 performer in percentage terms, falling 3.6 percent after investment bank UBS

started coverage of the stock with a “sell” rating.

The FTSE 100 hit a peak of 6,894.88 points in mid-May, which marked its highest level since December 1999.

It has since retreated and is down 1.9 percent since the start of 2014.

“The geopolitical tensions are going to be a drag on equities for a while,” said Hantec Markets analyst Richard Perry. - Reuters

Related Topics: