Source: Sharecast
The FTSE 100 ended the session up 0.13% at 7,494.21, and the FTSE 250 was down 0.49% at 20,993.33.
Sterling was in the red against its major trading pairs, and was last down 0.04% on the dollar at $1.3596, and 0.36% weaker against the euro at €1.1983.
“After the losses of Friday and Monday a bounce of some sort was to have been expected,” said IG chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp.
“Given how keyed up investors had been regarding the developments in eastern Europe, the lack of any full-on conflict in eastern Ukraine has provided the chance for markets to edge higher.
“Some short positions will have been closed out and some dip buyers might even be thinking about chancing their arm in the market after the recent losses.”
But Beauchamp said such swift bounces were a feature of declining markets, and with further developments in the crisis inevitable, the likelihood was that a headline would come along to prompt another leg lower at some point soon.
Five Russian banks and three high-net worth individuals were sanctioned by the UK earlier in the afternoon, after Vladimir Putin sent tanks into rebel-held regions in eastern Ukraine.
The five banks are Rossiya, IS Bank, General Bank, Promsvyazbank and the Black Sea Bank, while the individuals are Gennady Timchenko, an oligarch with close ties to Putin, Boris Rotenberg and Igor Rotenberg.
Any assets they held in the UK would be frozen, with the individuals banned from travelling to the country, while all UK individuals and entities were now prohibited from having any deals with the banks or individuals.
Addressing the House of Commons, prime minister Boris Johnson said the sanctions were "the first tranche, the first barrage, of what we’re prepared to do: we will hold further sanctions at readiness to be deployed … if the situation escalates still further".
However, the leader of the opposition, Keir Starmer, called on the government to go further and impose a full set of sanctions, including banning trading in Russian sovereign debt, removing Russia from the SWIFT interbank system, and working with European allies to ensure the Nord Stream 2 pipeline was cancelled.
He also said Russian money had "been allowed to influence" UK politics and called for action to tackle the issue.
In economic news, a survey from the CBI showed UK manufacturing inflation expectations hitting a high not seen since the mid-1970s.
The balance of manufacturers expecting price rises in the next three months rose to +77% in February - the highest score since December 1976, the business lobby said, with the balance being the difference between respondents expecting an increase and a decline.
Inflation expectations peaked in February as output growth accelerated in the three months to February to +26% from +24%.
Output rose in 13 out of 17 categories driven by chemicals and food, drink and tobacco.
Order books were strong but stocks of finished goods continued to be below requirements though the score improved from -17% to -14%.
“Manufacturers will be buoyed by strong order books and output growth, but amid ongoing cost pressures, almost four in five firms expect to increase prices in the next three months,” said Anna Leach, the CBI's deputy chief economist.
“With high inflation dampening growth prospects in the wider economy, the government must use the spring statement to help get businesses investing more, supporting higher growth, productivity and wages.”
The Treasury, meanwhile, had its first monthly budget surplus since the start of the pandemic, although official figures showed rising inflation were causing debt interest payments to surge.
Public sector accounts excluding public sector banks showed a surplus of £2.9bn in January, the Office for National Statistics said.
The surplus was less than the £3.5bn forecast by economists and the government's fiscal watchdog.
It said the figure represented £5.4bn less borrowing than a year earlier and an £8.6bn increase in tax receipts to £91.6bn.
Government spending rose £0.5bn to £76.3bn as rising inflation caused debt interest payments to increase £4.5bn to £6.1bn.
Interest payments were higher than the £3.6bn predicted by the Office for Budget Responsibility, the government's fiscal forecaster.
“With inflation set to keep rising until April, higher debt interest costs are likely to mean borrowing keeps overshooting the OBR’s forecast in the coming months,” said Bethany Beckett, UK specialist at Capital Economics.
“We expect the combination of higher inflation and interest rates to keep pushing borrowing above the OBR’s forecast in the coming months.”
In equities, Russian steelmaker Evraz added 5.36% and Anglo-Russian precious metals miner Polymetal International advanced 2.8%, as investors breathed a sigh of relief that they were not on the list of companies being sanctioned by the UK.
Smith & Nephew jumped 7.51% after it reported higher full-year profits and revenue, and announced the appointment of a new chief executive.
Intercontinental Hotels Group gained 4.21% after it said annual profits more than doubled on the back of a strong final quarter in the US and China, as economies recovered from the Covid pandemic.
Chilean miner Antofagasta managed gains of 0.68% after it posted growth in full-year profit and revenue thanks to higher copper and molybdenum prices.
HSBC reversed earlier losses to rise 0.04%, after it said annual profit more than doubled as lower bad debts more than made up for reduced revenue.
Pre-tax profit for the year to the end of December rose to $18.9bn from $8.8bn a year earlier, as revenue dipped 2% to $49.6bn.
On the downside, Hargreaves Lansdown tumbled 15.64% after the investment platform reported a 20% decline in interim pre-tax profit and a smaller-than-expected increase in assets under management.
Coca-Cola HBC was 5.53% weaker even after the bottling company posted a rise in full-year profit and revenue.
John Wood Group plunged 16.22% after the energy services provider said it expected to take a one-off $100m charge relating to its Aegis Poland contract, as it estimated a bigger loss for the legacy Amec Foster Wheeler project.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,494.21 0.13%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,993.33 -0.49%
techMARK (TASX) 4,321.22 0.48%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,267.50p 7.51%
Evraz (EVR) 281.30p 5.36%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 5,094.00p 4.21%
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 281.00p 3.42%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 118.02p 2.88%
Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 2,745.00p 2.81%
Polymetal International (POLY) 1,100.50p 2.80%
Aveva Group (AVV) 2,510.00p 2.32%
Experian (EXPN) 2,843.00p 2.19%
Croda International (CRDA) 7,112.00p 2.01%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,095.00p -15.64%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 2,204.00p -5.53%
Abrdn (ABDN) 222.90p -4.58%
Kingfisher (KGF) 313.20p -3.36%
Royal Mail (RMG) 404.20p -2.92%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 1,032.50p -2.41%
St James's Place (STJ) 1,479.00p -2.35%
Fresnillo (FRES) 680.60p -2.32%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,780.00p -1.98%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 9,012.00p -1.51%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 731.00p 4.58%
Darktrace (DARK) 342.40p 3.31%
Trustpilot Group (TRST) 142.40p 3.26%
Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 207.00p 2.99%
Indivior (INDV) 280.00p 2.34%
WH Smith (SMWH) 1,573.00p 2.14%
Spectris (SXS) 3,200.00p 1.97%
SSP Group (SSPG) 282.30p 1.95%
Energean (ENOG) 987.50p 1.91%
Convatec Group (CTEC) 174.25p 1.90%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 188.85p -16.22%
AJ Bell (AJB) 305.20p -4.51%
BH Macro Ltd. GBP Shares (BHMG) 3,760.00p -4.11%
Capita (CPI) 28.25p -3.88%
Jupiter Fund Management (JUP) 208.60p -3.78%
ICG Enterprise Trust (ICGT) 1,142.00p -3.55%
Quilter (QLT) 131.85p -3.55%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 256.00p -3.40%
Pennon Group (PNN) 1,030.00p -3.10%
Edinburgh Worldwide Inv Trust (EWI) 210.50p -3.01%