London midcaps climb to 4-year high on Trump pivot, Ukraine deal hopes (Jan 22)

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 .FTMC 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 .FTSE closed up 0.1%.

Media stocks .FTNMX403010 rose 1.9%, helped by a 5.8% rise in Future FUTR.L after the publishing firm announced that it would acquire Sheerluxe.

Shares of Ukraine-exposed companies jumped with airline Wizz Air WIZZ.L climbing 9% and miner Ferrexpo FXPO.L 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 CCC.L shares were up 10% after the technology firm provided an upbeat profit forecast.

Senior SNR.L climbed 8.7% after the engineering firm raised its annual profit forecast for the second time in two months, while AJ Bell AJBA.L rose 3.7% after the investment platform reported a 27.7% rise in first-quarter gross inflows for its platform business.

Heavyweight energy shares .FTNMX601010 were down as crude oil prices fell.

Shares of precious metal miners .FTNMX551030 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.