British stocks slip in volatile trade; LSE Group jumps on earnings

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London’s FTSE 100 slipped on Thursday, as investors assessed the impact of soaring commodity prices on economic growth, while shares in LSE Group jumped after the exchange operator posted positive earnings.

The FTSE 100 index fell 0.2%, with Russia-exposed miner Polymetal plunging 28.5% after it lost spot on the blue-chip index.

ITV, down 14.3%, was the second biggest loser as its digital expansion plans left investors unimpressed.

“The aspirations are certainly huge, with plans to double digital revenue by 2026, that will be no easy feat when the battle for our attention is already fierce, with companies with much deeper pockets on the opposing teams,” said Sophie Lund-Yates, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.

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The London Stock Exchange Group jumped 9.3%, among the top FTSE 100 gainers, after positive earnings updates and raising its dividend to 95 pence per share.

LSE Group’s gains were also supported by the exchange flagging minor potential impact on its business from financial sanctions on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.

The FTSE 100 has given up most of its gains this year to trade merely 0.4% higher, but still outperforms the wider European aggregate and the S&P 500 on support from robust commodity stock gains as oil prices peak.

However, concerns of the economic impact of soaring energy costs due to the escalating Russian-Ukraine conflict, coupled with a rising interest rate regime has raised economic growth worries.

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“One thing is already clear, it (Russia-Ukraine conflict) has supercharged the inflationary pressures already facing the globe, while at the same time blunting central banks’ response, as they will be wary of being too aggressive on rates at a time of such uncertainty,” Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell said.

A bunch of shares trading ex-dividend also weighed on British indexes with blue-chips Dechra Pharmaceuticals, Hargreaves Lansdown and Barclays and mid-cap stocks, including Hays, Genus and Ashmore , all falling between 0.6% and 4.3%.

The domestically focussed mid-cap index slipped 0.3%.

Among other stocks, British cybersecurity company Darktrace jumped 12.8% after it raised its full-year outlook for the second time in three months, reflecting strong customer growth and retention.

(Reporting by Shashank Nayar in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Shinjini Ganguli)