Sector movers: Construction and Autos hit as risk aversion rises again
Some of the cyclical areas of the market that led the previous day's rally gave back some of their gains as negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in Turkey failed to deliver any results.
Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said that Russian demands amounted to surrender, something that would never happen.
Russia's Sergei Lavrov's meanwhile said that all of Moscow's demands must be met in order for its assault to stop.
However, the door to further talks was apparently left open and Lavrov reportedly said that the Russian President would not refuse a meeting with Ukraine's.
Against that backdrop, Construction&Materials and Automobiles were among the sectors hit hardest by the increase in risk aversion as news of the talks hit the newswires.
Among the former, shares of Volution slumped after it reported "unprecedented levels of input cost inflation" and its shares dropped sharply.
CRH was another big faller.
As an aside, one analyst commented on Thursday on how Moscow had advised chemicals companies to halt exports of methanol derivatives to Europe due to logistical problems.
Those derivatives included pentaerythritol and urotropine, both of which were widely used in multiple sectors, including construction materials.
Other sectors in which they were widely used included pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, chemicals.
In the personal goods space, Burberry and THG were the main drag on the sector.
Going the other way, Industrial Engineering got a boost from Spirax Sarco as the maker of steam control equipment posted a 26% surge in annual adjusted operating profits to reach £340.3m.
Otherwise, it was defensives that were in greatest demand with Precious Metals and Mining and Tobacco both outperforming the wider market.
Top performing sectors so far today
Industrial Engineering 15,056.95 +3.65%
Precious Metals and Mining 12,596.13 +1.59%
Tobacco 32,166.82 +1.08%
Industrial Metals & Mining 7,639.95 +1.00%
Non-life Insurance 2,800.98 +0.95%
Bottom performing sectors so far today
Construction & Materials 6,664.06 -4.91%
Beverages 25,631.78 -4.56%
Personal Goods 27,887.25 -4.53%
Automobiles & Parts 2,443.37 -4.08%
Household Goods & Home Construction 13,310.96 -3.72%