Russian miners Evraz and Polymetal set to fall out of FTSE 100 in quarterly shake up
London-listed Russian mining firms Evraz and Polymetal are set to be shuffled out of the FTSE 100 in the index’s quarterly review tomorrow, after their share prices collapsed in recent days following Western sanctions on Russia.
The FTSE’s quarterly shakeup will be based on share prices at the close of trading today, and both firms have plunged beyond the mark for the UK’s largest 100 firms.
Steelmaking giant Evraz, part-owned by oligarch Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, has faced a freefalling share price for the past month, plummeting 55 per cent over the last five days alone.
Gold miner Polymetal has faced a similarly dramatic downward swing with its share price falling 75 per cent since conflict broke out last week.
Analysts at Hargreaves Lansdown said recent market turbulence would make the FTSE shake up more drastic than expected.
“Instead of a gentle reshuffling of cards in the FTSE review, the conflict in Ukraine has thrown the pack up in the air, with Russian miners plummeting down in value,” Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst, said.
“Companies in the travel sector which just last week looked like contenders for inclusion in the blue chip index, like easyJet have seen their hopes blown off course.”
The turbulence for airline and travel stocks may have opened up an opportunity for gold miner Endeavour Mining, Streeter said, after it felt the lift of investors seeking out the safe haven of gold in recent days.
“Gold has become sought after once more as a safe haven as the catastrophe unfolds in Ukraine and with little end in sight to the conflict investors clearly expect the precious metal will continue to be in demand,” she added .
Investors have backed Endeavour Mining since Russia invaded Ukraine last week and shares in the firm have risen 6.14 per cent in the last five days.
Endeavour reported strong results near the end of 2021, with underlying profits surging and the group set to generate $1bn in operating cash flow for the full year.