London stocks dip as markets watch Ukraine peace talks
As of 1010 GMT, the blue-chip FTSE 100 (.FTSE), opens new tab inched 0.1% lower, well below Friday's intraday record high, though the index closed last week with modest gains. The midcap FTSE 250 (.FTMC), opens new tab also fell 0.1% on Monday.
Markets are bracing for U.S. President Donald Trump's meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and European leaders later in the day. Ahead of the meeting, Trump told Ukraine to give up hopes of getting back annexed Crimea or joining NATO.
After his Friday's summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump has appeared more aligned with Moscow on seeking a full peace deal with Ukraine instead of a ceasefire first.
Energy sector (.FTNMX601010), opens new tab was 0.6% down on Monday, as oil markets were volatile, reacting to Washington's signals on secondary sanctions on Russian oil.
Financial sector was the main underperformer with life insurers index (.FTNMX303010), opens new tab and banking index (.FTNMX301010), opens new tab falling 1% and 0.4% respectively.
On the flip side, defensive stocks such as precious metal miners (.FTNMX551030), opens new tab, healthcare (.FTNMX201030), opens new tab, and utilities (.FTUB6510), opens new tab rose over 0.5% each.
Economic data on the day revealed that asking prices for newly advertised British properties fell in the four weeks to mid-August, though less notably than in previous months. July sales reached their highest level for that time of year since 2020.
A gauge of Britain's homebuilders (.FTNMX402020), opens new tab gained 0.9%.
Later this week, attention will turn to the Jackson Hole symposium where U.S. Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell may offer clues on future interest rate direction.
Among single stocks, bootmaker Dr Martens (DOCS.L), opens new tab jumped 8.4% after brokerage firm Peel Hunt upgraded the stock to "buy" from "add".
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Reuters
a few seconds ago
- Reuters
Oil rises 1% on stalled Russia-Ukraine peace talks, strong US demand
NEW YORK/LONDON, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose by nearly a dollar a barrel on Thursday as Russia and Ukraine blamed each other for a stalled peace process, and as earlier U.S. data showed signs of strong demand in the top oil consuming nation. Brent crude futures were up 85 cents, or about 1.3%, at $67.69 a barrel at 1:42 p.m. EDT (1742 GMT), having hit a two-week high earlier in the session. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 86 cents, or 1.4%, at $63.57 a barrel. Both contracts climbed more than 1% in the prior session. The path to peace in Ukraine remained uncertain, turning oil traders cautious after a selloff over the past two weeks on hopes that U.S. President Donald Trump would soon negotiate a diplomatic end to Russia's war with its neighbor. Both Moscow and Kyiv have since blamed each other for stalling the peace process. Russia on Thursday launched a major air attack near Ukraine's border with the European Union, while Ukraine claimed to have hit a Russian oil refinery. "Some geopolitical risk premium is slowly being pumped back into the market," oil trading advisory firm Ritterbusch and Associates told clients on Thursday. The uncertainty in the peace talks means that the possibility of tighter sanctions on Russia has resurfaced, said Tamas Varga, an analyst at PVM Oil Associates. Oil prices were also supported by a larger-than-expected drawdown from U.S. crude stockpiles in the last week, indicating strong demand. U.S. crude stockpiles fell 6 million barrels in the week ended August 15, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported on Wednesday, while analysts had expected a draw of 1.8 million barrels. "These tight domestic stockpiles stand in contrast to the oversupply outlook projected by both the IEA and EIA for 2026, challenging traders' broader market expectations," StoneX analyst Alex Hodes told clients. Investors were also looking to the Jackson Hole economic conference in Wyoming for signals on a possible Fed interest rate cut next month. The annual gathering of central bankers begins on Thursday, with Fed Chair Jerome Powell scheduled to speak on Friday.
Daily Mail
30 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
It's Brendan v The Board, Part 2... another summer of transfer discontent has left an unhappy manager and Celtic walking a £40m Champions League tightrope
By the time the 100th minute of a desperate struggle against Kairat had come and gone, it had become impossible to ascertain what Celtic 's plan was. Liam Scales, nominally a centre-half, was playing at left back. Daizen Maeda no longer seemed sure if his role was through the middle or out on the flank. Shin Yamada, a striker who'd replaced a midfielder in Benjamin Nygren, was everywhere the ball had just been. A bench which began with £6million Auston Trusty and £11m Arne Engels seated on it had been accommodating £9m Adam Idah since half-time with James Forrest giving the Irishman company once his 34-year-old legs could give no more. With a bang average visiting team comfortably defending their box on the rare occasion a dismal Celtic side ventured anywhere near it, there was an air of resignation among the home support long before the Norwegian referee mercifully blew for time. If ever a display mirrored a club's off-field preparation for a match then this was it: The most pitiful transfer window in recent memory manifest in a woefully inadequate show. While Brendan Rodgers ' players still ought to have acquitted themselves far better than they did, it was telling that the fingers of blame were angrily pointed in the direction of chief executive Michael Nicholson and chairman Peter Lawwell. Frankly, the level of rancour in the stadium suggested it's going to take more than an unlikely triumph in Kazakhstan on Tuesday to stop the disconnect between the supporters and the boardroom from deepening. Celtic's hierarchy had known that Scotland's champions would require to negotiate a play-off match since April of last year. They made £40m through direct entry last season. With a modest investment across the past two months, they'd have been all but assured of banking that gargantuan sum again. Instead, a squad with glaring inadequacies must pull this one out of the fire next week. Make no mistake - if they fail, it will be nothing short of a humiliation. Rarely has the old wisdom about what happens when you fail to prepare felt more apt. In the media room afterwards, the manager did his best to answer questions which mostly related to the chants of 'Sack the Board' - the response of thousands present to the lack of backing he's enjoyed from his paymasters to this stage. When pointedly asked if the fans should fans accept how their club's being run, the Northern Irishman played a straight bat. 'Well listen, that's not for me to answer.' In other words, ask those above me. If only we could. This speaks to one of the main issues at Celtic. The complete lack of communication between the boardroom and the rank and file. If the directors did hatch a plan beyond crossing their fingers and toes to get through this tie, then no one has made it known. It's not a good look to be stockpiling money when the team is crying out for reinforcements. Has Nicholson hit the bar with a succession of deals for players with pedigree or has he not even come close? In the unlikely event that he ever agrees to be scrutinised on the matter, it would be interesting to hear. From 20 paces, the picture is inscrutable. At last check, Celtic had £65.4m in the bank - with the promise of more money to come from the back end of last season's commendable run in Europe. Another £10m was piled on top when Kyogo Furuhashi left for Rennes in January. A further £16.5m followed when Nicolas Kuhn joined Como. As well as the regular season ticket money, the pot was further swollen by the sales of Gustaf Lagerbielke and Kwon Hyeok-kyo. All told, that's approximately £100m. More than enough to bolster the squad with plenty left in reserve. But instead of refuelling the vehicle and trying to go one better than their near miss against Bayern Munich, Celtic have put a few drips in the tank. Kieran Tierney returned from Arsenal on big wages but for no transfer fee. The £1.8m spent on Nygren from Nordsjaelland is the biggest outlay so far with Yamada costing £1.5m from Kawasaki Frontale. As well as the outgoing transfers of Furuhashi and Kuhn, the side has lost Jota to a long-term injury. That's an awful lot of pace, ingenuity and goals. The need to compensate for that ahead of Kairat was abundantly clear. Rodgers said it time and time again. They had the funds, yet they failed to deliver. You cannot blame those who've parted with their hard-earned cash feeling angry at watching the engine cough and splutter on Tuesday. Celtic as a club have never been more astute at making money. Their inability to reinvest it this year made Tuesday's debacle feel like an accident waiting to happen and again raises questions about how it operates. Appointed head of football operations in October, one of Paul Tisdale's stated roles included the 'identification and development of talent'. What's become of him? Have the targets he's presumably flagged up not matched up with the manager's expectations? Or have the club simply not been able to get deals over the line? Whatever the reason, it's clearly dysfunctional. There was a moment towards the end of Rodgers' pre-match press conference on Monday which got lost at the time but is now worthy of revisiting. Asked why Hayato Inamura, a defender who joined to much fanfare from Albirex Niigata, wasn't in his Champions League squad, the manager's answer was revealing. 'Yeah, very easy,' said the Rodgers. 'He's not quite at the level, as of yet, that I would expect.' Seriously? So why, you might well ask, is he even here? Who's sanctioning a move for a 23-year-old who isn't up to scratch when the team's crying out for players to help them reach the Champions League? It doesn't smack of a club where everyone is on the same page. Rodgers stopped just short of admitting this is the heart of the matter after Tuesday's stalemate. 'I don't necessarily need control,' he stressed. 'If there's alignment, I want what's best for the football team.' While it would be hard to argue that Idah, Trusty, Arne Engels or Paulo Bernardo (an unused sub against Kairat) have delivered value for money so far, a failure to give the manager what he so clearly needs to take the club forward serves no purpose. It's all becoming very reminiscent of seven years ago when Rodgers' barbs at the board preceded a loss to AEK Athens at this juncture and his departure in the February. As things stand, the smart money is on him heading for the hills when his contract expires next summer. The difference, this time around, is that no one will blame him.
Reuters
30 minutes ago
- Reuters
US prolongs Michigan coal plant's operation until November despite costs
WASHINGTON, Aug 21 (Reuters) - The U.S. Energy Department on Thursday extended an order for a Michigan coal plant to stay open through November 19, even though it had been planning to shut permanently for economic reasons and complying with the original order has already cost the company tens of millions of dollars. In May, the Energy Department issued the original order, normally reserved for natural disasters, for the 1,500 megawatt J.H. Campbell plant in West Olive, Michigan to stay open. The order came a week before Consumers Energy, the majority owner of the plant, planned to shut and after it had depleted its coal stockpile and reassigned staff. Thursday's order is the latest in a string of U.S. moves to support fossil fuels, after President Donald Trump declared an energy emergency on the first day of his second term. In April, he signed executive orders aiming to boost coal production, in one of a series of actions that run counter to global efforts to curb carbon emissions, saying the administration was "going to put the miners back to work." Chris Wright, the U.S. energy secretary, said the order "will help ensure millions of Americans can continue to access affordable, reliable, and secure baseload power regardless of whether the wind is blowing or the sun is shining.' Trump claims that rapid adoption of solar and wind power has made U.S. electricity unstable and expensive, justifying his bid to end most subsidies for them. But reliability has improved in Texas, the U.S. grid with the most renewable energy, according to regulatory filings and price data reviewed by Reuters. Consumers Energy said in a financial filing that staying open cost $29 million over the first 38 days since the first order. A report commissioned by environmental groups said this month that keeping Campbell open would cost $279 million annually. It said if the U.S. mandates keeping open fossil fuel plants that had been slated to retire by the end of 2028, it could cost $3 billion or more per year. The costs, it said, would be distributed across homeowners and businesses that pay power bills in all regions but the U.S. Northeast. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ruled last week that the costs for keeping Campbell open could be spread across 10 states across the Midwest. Consumers Energy spokesperson Brian Wheeler said the company expects to continue operating the plant as required. Consumers was pleased that FERC approved its request to recover costs by allocating them across the region, Wheeler said.
