(Sharecast News) - London stocks finished deep in negative territory on Thursday, as investors waded through an avalanche of earnings news, and kept their eyes firmly on the invasion of Ukraine with both sides apparently meeting for further talks.

The FTSE 100 ended the session down 2.57% at 7,238.85, and the FTSE 250 tumbled 3.35% to 20,079.70.

Sterling was in a mixed state, meanwhile, last trading 0.53% lower against the dollar at $1.3335, and strengthening 0.07% on the euro to €1.2066.

"'Suspending operations' seems to be the phrase of the day, with more Western companies pulling back from Russia, but not pulling out," said AJ Bell financial analyst Danni Hewson.

"Whether it's flat pack giant Ikea or high-end retailer Burberry, brands are on the march recognising three things.

"One - no brand wants to be 'that company', the only one that didn't take a stand when public opinion is so black and white.

Secondly, Hewson said, was that selling in Russia was now more difficult as sanctions took effect and supply chains were disrupted.

"Three - there is a chance that one day doing business with Russia will no longer be bad for business, and some brands are clearly thinking about the long game."

The mood was grim on Thursday afternoon, amid news of intensified bombing of Ukrainian cities as the Russian fleet headed towards the Ukrainian port of Odessa.

Around one million war refugees had now fled the country.

Delegations from Ukraine and Russia were also said to be holding a second meeting, but no headlines regarding their content or of any progress, or the opposite, had yet emerged.

The UK took more action against Russian companies earlier, with a number now banned from the insurance market and suspended on the London Stock Exchange.

Russian companies in the aviation or space industry were being blocked from accessing British-based insurance or reinsurance services directly or indirectly, the Treasury announced.

"The UK government will bring in legislation to prohibit UK-based insurance and reinsurance providers from undertaking financial transactions connected with a Russian entity or for use in Russia," it said in a statement.

"Further details of the legislation will be available in due course."

Meanwhile, the London Stock Exchange said it had suspended trading in global depository receipts (GDRs) of several Russia-based companies including Rosneft, Sberbank, Gazprom, En+ and Lukoil.

The LSE has 24 companies incorporated in Russia trading on its bourse, of which 17 are suspended.

"Further to recent sanctions in connection with events in Ukraine, in light of market conditions, and in order to maintain orderly markets, the London Stock Exchange has suspended the admission to trading of the instruments ...with immediate effect," the LSE said in a statement.

Self-sanctioning activities also continued, with distilling giant Diageo pausing exports to Ukraine and Russia, as the war between the two nations escalated.

"Our priority is the safety of our people in Ukraine and the wider region," a spokesperson for the company, which makes Smirnoff vodka and Guinness, said.

Online fashion conglomerate Boohoo Group also confirmed on Thursday that it had suspended sales into Russia, although it said those sales were "not material", making up less than 0.1% of group revenues.

"Boohoo is deeply concerned about the tragic developments in Ukraine," the board said in its statement.

On the economic front, a closely-watched industry survey showed the UK services sector rebounding in February, as the Omicron variant faded and output jumped.

The headline seasonally-adjusted IHS Markit/CIPS UK Services PMI Business Activity Index rose to 60.5 from 54.1 in January.

That reading was an eight-month high, although it was also marginally below both the flash estimate and consensus estimate of 60.8.

IHS Markit said both business activity and new orders had accelerated "sharply" in February, which had in turn supported stronger job creation.

The rise in employment was the fastest since October.

"The ebbing of the Omicron wave contributed to a rebound in growth in the UK service sector, with rates of expansion in activity and new business up sharply," said Andrew Harker, economics director at IHS Markit.

"With manufacturing also seeing growth quicken, the UK economy looks to have been expanding sharply mid-way through the first quarter.

"Inflationary pressures remained acute, however, with selling prices rising at a fresh record pace for the second month running."

Retail footfall, meanwhile, strengthened in February, industry data showed on Thursday, despite the impact of storms Dudley and Eunice.

According to data from retail consultancy Springboard, footfall strengthened slightly in the four weeks to 26 February, to come in 20.7% below 2019, compared to -20.8% in January.

Month-on-month, footfall rose 9.1%, the largest single monthly uplift since June 2021.

In high streets, footfall fell 26.2% compared to February 2019, by 24.1% in shopping centres and 5.3% in retail parks.

"Despite the third week of February being impacted by severe storms, footfall across all retail destinations over the month as a whole was surprisingly robust," Springboard said.

Across the pond, the latest tally of weekly unemployment claims showed that the US job market was continuing to tighten.

According to the US Department of Labor, over the week ending on 26 February, the number of people filing for unemployment claims for the first time declined by 18,000 to 215,000.

The four-week moving average, which aims to smooth out some of the volatility in the readings, fell by 6,000 to 230,500.

"Claims are headed back to the pre-Omicron lows in the wake of the collapse in cases and hospitalisations," said Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.

"Demand for discretionary services is rebounding strongly, easing the pressure on businesses hit hard by people's retreat from social activity when the variant emerged.

"These data tell us nothing about tomorrow's payroll report, but the renewed downward trend augurs well for March."

In equity markets, Anglo-Russian precious metals miner Polymetal International continued its downward tumble, losing 42.13% by the end of trading.

ITV slumped 27.5% after the broadcaster reported a surge in annual profits as revenue rebounded from the Covid-19 crisis, although investors were concerned about its spending plans.

GKN owner Melrose fell 8.36% as it shelved a planned payout to shareholders because of concerns caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, although its results did come in ahead of expectations.

Admiral Group was 14.13% weaker after it reported a rise in 2021 profits, driven by its motor insurance business and the release of reserves set aside for claims during the Covid pandemic, but reported a loss at its international insurance business.

Rentokil Initial dropped 4.89% even after it posted a jump in full-year profits and revenue following a particularly strong performance from its pest control business.

Airlines were under the cosh again amid worries about the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war, with BA and Iberia owner IAG down 7.05%, and low-cost carriers Wizz Air and easyJet descending 8.53% and 7.4%, respectively.

"A military no-fly zone is off the cards, but investors are fretting that consumers will declare one of their own," said Steve Clayton, fund manager at HL Select.

On the upside, miners held on to some of their earlier gains, with Glencore up 5.28%, Anglo American rising 0.99%, and Rio Tinto eking out gains of 0.02%.

London Stock Exchange Group jumped 9.64% after it reported a jump in annual revenues, boosted by its $27bn acquisition of Refinitiv.

Industrial thread maker Coats Group advanced 12.39% after it said annual operating profit and revenue rose as demand recovered and struck an upbeat note on the outlook.

Cybersecurity firm Darktrace surged 11.2% after it raised annual guidance after a strong rise in customer numbers in the first half of its fiscal year.

Chemring ended the day up 3.06% after it said results for the current year were set to be "slightly ahead" of consensus analyst expectations of £62.2m in adjusted operating profit, thanks to recent contract wins.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,238.85 -2.57%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,079.70 -3.35%
techMARK (TASX) 4,236.95 -3.50%

FTSE 100 - Risers

London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) 6,984.00p 9.64%
Glencore (GLEN) 476.50p 5.28%
Anglo American (AAL) 3,968.00p 0.99%
Royal Mail (RMG) 361.00p 0.56%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,862.00p 0.18%
Avast (AVST) 630.60p 0.10%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 6,129.00p 0.02%
Entain (ENT) 1,559.00p -0.06%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,744.50p -0.09%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 601.40p -0.23%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Polymetal International (POLY) 194.10p -42.13%
ITV (ITV) 80.22p -27.50%
Admiral Group (ADM) 2,540.00p -14.13%
Evraz (EVR) 53.10p -11.50%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 129.90p -8.36%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 131.78p -7.05%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 995.60p -6.60%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 1,543.00p -6.14%
WPP (WPP) 962.60p -5.95%
Airtel Africa (AAF) 139.00p -5.89%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Coats Group (COA) 66.20p 12.39%
Darktrace (DARK) 511.50p 11.20%
Currys (CURY) 91.45p 3.22%
Chemring Group (CHG) 336.50p 3.06%
Discoverie Group (DSCV) 820.00p 1.23%
Vietnam Enterprise Investments (DI) (VEIL) 750.00p 1.08%
Helios Towers (HTWS) 139.40p 0.72%
BB Healthcare Trust (Red) (BBH) 175.60p 0.69%
Big Yellow Group (BYG) 1,384.00p 0.44%
Volution Group (FAN) 482.00p 0.42%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Reach (RCH) 157.40p -12.81%
Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 121.00p -10.04%
Petropavlovsk (POG) 1.90p -10.00%
Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 651.00p -9.94%
National Express Group (NEX) 209.40p -8.85%
XP Power Ltd. (DI) (XPP) 3,700.00p -8.75%
Elementis (ELM) 111.80p -8.66%
Lancashire Holdings Limited (LRE) 401.80p -8.60%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 857.20p -8.59%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 2,901.00p -8.53%