London Report: FTSE snaps losing streak as Russia vows to pull troops
BRITISH shares snapped a three-day losing streak yesterday after Russia said it would pull troops back from near the Ukrainian border, which investors interpreted as a sign of easing tensions between Moscow and Kiev.
Late on Friday, Moscow’s defence ministry said it had ended military exercises in southern Russia, which the United States had criticised as “provocative”.
In spite of this, NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said he saw a “high probability” that Russia could intervene militarily in eastern Ukraine and that NATO detected no sign that Moscow was pulling back thousands of troops from close to the Ukrainian border. But there was no apparent market reaction to those comments.
Fears that Russia could invade eastern Ukraine have compounded worries about widening conflict in the Middle East, weak European economic data and the prospect of tighter US monetary policy.
The FTSE 100 closed up 65.46 points, or 1 per cent, at 6,632.82, after a 3.3 per cent fall over the last two weeks.