Closing summary
European shares are climbing on optimism about the peace talks between Ukraine and Russia. The FTSE 100 index in London has gained 63 points to 7,537, a 0.85% rise, while Germany’s Dax and France’s CAC 40 have rallied more than 3%, and Italy’s FTSE MiB is 2.4% ahead. Bond yields have also jumped, and the euro rose 1.3% to $1.1127.
US stocks opened higher on Wall Street, with the Dow Jones climbing 244 points to 35,200, up 0.7%.
Russia has promised to dramatically scale back its military operations in northern Ukraine, easing supply concerns that have sent commodity prices surging. Ukraine has proposed adopting neutral status with international guarantees to protect it from future attacks.
Oil prices have fallen by more than 5%, extending Monday’s selloff, with Brent crude falling more than $5 to $107.03 a barrel while US light crude slid to $100.77 a barrel.
On the metal markets, aluminium led industrial metals lower. Russia is a major producer of aluminium, nickel and copper. Benchmark three-month aluminium fell 5.4% to $3,410 a tonne, after hitting a record high of $4,073.50 a tonne on 7 March.
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Crude oil is selling off for a second day, with Brent crude now down $6 to $106.56 a barrel. US light crude has also lost more than 5% and is just a touch above $100 a barrel.
Oil started the day lower as rising Covid infections prompted a new lockdown in Shanghai, China’s financial hub, which is expected to lead to a drop in oil demand. As Russia’s defence minister announced Moscow would cut military activity around Kyiv and Chernigiv and there were signs of progress in the peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, fears around oil supplies receded.
