By Bansari Mayur Kamdar
(Reuters) -UK shares fell on Thursday following reports of Ukrainian forces and pro-Moscow rebels trading fire, while weakness in financials and energy stocks further dented sentiment.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 declined 0.9%, extending losses from Wednesday, after data showed consumer prices rose at the fastest annual pace in nearly 30 years last month.
Russia-backed rebels and Ukrainian forces traded accusations on Thursday that each had fired across the ceasefire line in eastern Ukraine.
Oil majors BP (LON:BP) and Shell (LON:RDSa) fell 1.4% and 2.7%, respectively, tracking crude prices as talks to resurrect a nuclear deal with Iran entered their final stages, but losses were limited by the Ukraine crisis.
Stronger energy prices have helped the commodity-heavy FTSE 100 weather geopolitical tensions better than its pan-European counterparts, with BP and Shell gaining more than 20% so far since the start of 2022.
Banking stocks slipped 1.3%, tracking weakness in British two-year government bond yields which fell sharply for a second straight day.
The domestically focussed mid-cap index fell 1.2%, with travel stocks dropping 1.8%.
"Travel and leisure is always going to get hit when you have geopolitical concerns in Eastern Europe," Michael Hewson, chief markets analyst at CMC Markets, said.
Wizz Air (LON:WIZZ) and Air France KLM-SA, both down 7.4% each, were airlines that do a lot of business in that region, Hewson added.
Standard Chartered (LON:STAN) reversed early losses to end 1.7% higher after the lender raised its core profitability goals and promised shareholders extra payouts, despite full year profit undershooting expectations, as it banks on inflation-battling rate hikes worldwide to boost lending.
Reckitt Benckiser Group jumped 5.9% and was the biggest gainer on the blue-chip index after beating estimates for fourth-quarter sales, as heightened fears about COVID-19 led to increased demand for its cleaning products.