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| UK 100 Leaders | Close | Chg | % Chg | % YTD |
| Babcock International Group PLC | 1347 | 55.0 | 4.3 | -0.6 |
| Pearson PLC | 1063 | 24.0 | 2.3 | -20.7 |
| Mondi PLC | 1049 | 23.0 | 2.2 | 0.3 |
| ARM Holdings PLC | 998 | 20.5 | 2.1 | -9.2 |
| WPP Group PLC | 1237 | 22.0 | 1.8 | -10.4 |
| Rio Tinto PLC | 3337.5 | 58.0 | 1.8 | -2.1 |
| BAE Systems PLC | 414.2 | 6.8 | 1.7 | -4.8 |
| Petrofac Ltd | 1438 | 22.0 | 1.6 | 17.5 |
| UK 100 Laggards | Close | Chg | % Chg | % YTD |
| SSE PLC | 1469 | -42.0 | -2.8 | 7.2 |
| Shire PLC | 2945 | -76.0 | -2.5 | 3.3 |
| St James’s Place PLC | 825 | -19.0 | -2.3 | 13.3 |
| Associated British Foods PLC | 2781 | -49.0 | -1.7 | 13.7 |
| GlaxoSmithKline PLC | 1591.5 | -26.5 | -1.6 | -1.2 |
| Sports Direct International PLC | 852 | -14.0 | -1.6 | 19.2 |
| AstraZeneca PLC | 3876.5 | -61.0 | -1.6 | 8.5 |
| Tullow Oil PLC | 748.5 | -11.5 | -1.5 | -12.5 |
| Major World Indices | Mid/Close | Chg | % Chg | % YTD |
| UK UK 100 | 6,598.37 | -17.21 | -0.26 | -2.23 |
| UK | 16,273.70 | 91.99 | 0.57 | 2.12 |
| FR CAC 40 | 4,391.50 | -19.76 | -0.45 | 2.22 |
| DE DAX 30 | 9,555.91 | -31.28 | -0.33 | 0.04 |
| US DJ Industrial Average 30 | 16,457.70 | 134.64 | 0.82 | -0.72 |
| US Nasdaq Composite 100 | 4,198.99 | 43.23 | 1.04 | 0.54 |
| US S&P 500 | 1,872.34 | 14.72 | 0.79 | 1.30 |
| JP Nikkei 225 | 15,476.60 | 52.01 | 0.34 | -5.00 |
| HK Hang Seng Index 48 | 24,807.15 | 65.09 | 0.26 | 6.44 |
| AU S&P/ASX 200 | 5,632.20 | 6.30 | 0.11 | 5.23 |
| Commodities & FX | Mid/Close | Chg | % Chg | % YTD |
| Crude Oil, US Light Sweet ($/barrel) | 101.1 | -0.32 | -0.32 | 2.7558 |
| Crude Oil, Brent ($/barrel) | 107.475 | 0.4 | 0.37 | -3.3357 |
| Gold ($/oz) | 1283.65 | -1.25 | -0.1 | 6.6484 |
| Silver ($/oz) | 19.7075 | -0.0525 | -0.27 | 1.7246 |
| Platinum ($/oz) | 1415.75 | -1.45 | -0.1 | 3.1366 |
| GBP/USD – US$ per £ | 1.6665 | – | -0.01 | 0.707 |
| EUR/USD – US$ per € | 1.3775 | – | -0.02 | 0.2328 |
| GBP/EUR – € per £ | 1.2099 | – | 0.02 | 0.3401 |
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See Live Macro Calendar for full data line-up, incl. consensus expectations
The UK 100 Index is called to open higher by 12pts at 6818pts following a modest gain of 14pts on Friday.
Fresnillo (FRES.L) and Randgold Resources (RSS.L) were among the best performers, up as much as 2.29%, as reports suggested Russian troops were amassing on the border with Ukraine, while other sources claimed Russian troops had already crossed the border. The price of gold climbed back above $1290 as investors sought safety 'just in case'.
AstraZeneca (AZN.L) climbed by 1.95%. The prospect of a deal with Pfizer continues to circulate in the financial press. The shares are up some 8% since the story made headlines last week.
The UK supermarkets took a pounding on Friday as Tesco (TSCO.L) delivered a profit warning and slashed its interim dividend by 75%.
The challenges facing the UK's largest supermarket have been well documented in recent years, changes in management and numerous profit warnings had sent the share price to a 10 year low ahead of Friday's revelation. But the cutting of the dividend was enough to send the shares further south, as low as 223.8p at one point - down 9.13%, the lowest price in 11 years.
The shares recovered slightly to finish the session at 229.95p down 6.64%.
J Sainsbury (SBRY.L) and WM Morrison (MRW.L) were tarred with the same brush and declined 4.35% and 5.03% respectively, to join Tesco (TSCO.L) in the bottom three of the UK 100 .
U.S. markets posted shallow gains ahead of Labour Day today. The Dow Jones added 19pts to close at 17,098pts. The S&P 500 closed 6pts higher at 2,003pts.
Asian markets climbed higher as weaker than expected manufacturing data from China fuelled speculation the government will take further steps to boost the economy. The Shanghai Composite Index registered the most impressive gain up 0.72% at 2,233pts.
In commodities, gold was little changed trading slightly below one week highs of $1290 as tensions eased in Ukraine. Meanwhile hedge funds cut their bullish gold bets for the fourth week in five sending holdings to a two month low. WTI fell back to $95.71 a barrel snapping recent gains as OPEC’s oil production was seen increasing to the highest levels in a year. Brent remained steady.
In FX, the dollar reached the highest level in almost a year against the euro as signs of U.S. economic growth and tensions in Ukraine boosted demand for the currency.
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