Finance
London midcaps climb to 4-year high on Trump pivot, Ukraine deal hopes (Jan 22)
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on January 22, 2026
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on January 22, 2026
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
London stocks rise as Trump drops Greenland tariff threat, boosting UK shares and improving market sentiment. FTSE indices gain as banks and real estate stocks climb.
(Corrects milestone in headline, paragraph 2 to four-year high from three-year high, in January 22 story)
Jan 22 (Reuters) - UK shares closed higher on Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump softened his stance on Greenland, while optimism surrounding a potential Ukraine peace deal further lifted sentiment.
The domestically-focussed midcap FTSE 250 was up 1.3%, snapping back to a four-year high after escalating geopolitical concerns pressured the index earlier this week. UK's blue-chip FTSE 100 closed up 0.1%.
Media stocks rose 1.9%, helped by a 5.8% rise in Future after the publishing firm announced that it would acquire Sheerluxe.
Shares of Ukraine-exposed companies jumped with airline Wizz Air climbing 9% and miner Ferrexpo up 13.3% after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukrainian and Russian teams will have their first trilateral meeting with U.S. officials.
The earnings season continued to gather momentum. Computacenter shares were up 10% after the technology firm provided an upbeat profit forecast.
Senior climbed 8.7% after the engineering firm raised its annual profit forecast for the second time in two months, while AJ Bell rose 3.7% after the investment platform reported a 27.7% rise in first-quarter gross inflows for its platform business.
Heavyweight energy shares were down as crude oil prices fell.
Shares of precious metal miners also offered support to the UK indexes as gold prices climbed on safe-haven demand.
Diplomats said EU leaders will rethink ties with the U.S. at an emergency summit on Thursday after Donald Trump's threat of tariffs and even military action to acquire Greenland badly shook confidence in the transatlantic relationship and rattled global markets this week.
Trump on Wednesday stepped back from imposing tariffs on U.S.-bound exports from eight European countries and ruled out using force to take Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark, causing global markets to rally.
Meanwhile domestic data showed Britain's government borrowed less than expected in December, something that may give Finance Minister Rachel Reeves reasons for optimism in 2026.
(Reporting by Tharuniyaa Lakshmi in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar and Andrew Heavens)
The FTSE 100 is a stock market index that represents the 100 largest companies listed on the London Stock Exchange, reflecting the performance of the UK economy.
Investor sentiment is the overall attitude of investors toward a particular market or asset, often influencing market trends and movements.
Earnings season is the period during which publicly traded companies report their quarterly financial results, impacting stock prices and market performance.
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