London close: FTSE dips as miners fall; housebuilders rally on Barratt results

(Sharecast News) - London stocks ended just a touch weaker on Wednesday and off earlier lows, after Donald Trump threatened to expand US strikes on Iran and target the country's infrastructure.

The FTSE 100 closed down 0.1% at 10,515.92, while Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate were flat at $84.73 a barrel and $79.45, respectively.

In an interview with Fox News on Tuesday, Trump threatened to expand military strikes and continue to hit Iran "very hard" until it returns to the negotiating table.

"We're going to hit them very hard tonight," he said in an interview with Fox News chief foreign correspondent Trey Yingst. "We're going to hit them hard tomorrow night. We're gonna hit them really hard the night after."

He added: "Next week it gets really bad for them because next week comes the power plants.

"Next week comes the bridges. We're gonna knock out all their power plants. We're going to knock out all their bridges unless they get to the table and negotiate."

Meanwhile, according to Axios, Trump held a Situation Room meeting on Tuesday to discuss a massive offensive in Iran that will be wider in scope than the current strikes around the Strait of Hormuz.

Citing three sources with knowledge, Axios said Trump was joined in the Situation Room by his top national security team. Sources said the meeting focused on new plans for devastating strikes on strategic targets in Iran, in addition to the strikes against Iranian targets in the Strait of Hormuz.

In equity markets, asset manager ICG rose to the top of the FTSE 100 as it hailed a strong first quarter, with fee-earning assets under management up 3% in the quarter and 10% year-on-year to $88bn.

Barratt Redrow was also in the black after saying it has launched a new share buyback programme as part of a new �400m capital return in FY27, following a "solid performance" over the financial year to 28 June, with profits in line with market expectations.

Total home completions for the year came in at the upper end of guidance at 17,667, with further growth targeted for the current financial year.

Peers Persimmon, Bellway, Vistry and Taylor Wimpey also gained.

Iconic bootmaker Dr Martens advanced as it backed its full-year guidance ahead of its annual general meeting, and said it was on track with its strategic objectives.

Burberry and Watches of Switzerland rose after Swiss luxury group Richemont said strong demand for its jewellery brands boosted first-quarter sales, despite heightened geopolitical tensions.

Savills was lifted by an initiation at 'buy' at Berenberg, which highlighted the real estate advisor's "misunderstood earnings quality".

On the downside, miners Fresnillo, Anglo American, Antofagasta and Glencore all fell after data showed that China's economy grew at the slowest pace in more than three years in the second quarter.

Discount retailer B&M European Value Retail slumped as it reported a 2.3% decline in UK like-for-like sales in the first quarter, although this was offset by a strong performance in France.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 10,515.92 -0.13%

FTSE 250 (MCX) 23,462.39 0.24%

techMARK (TASX) 5,889.07 -0.28%

FTSE 100 - Risers

ICG (ICG) 1,889.00p 5.30%

Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 8,420.00p 4.83%

St James's Place (STJ) 1,204.00p 4.29%

Barratt Redrow (BTRW) 290.10p 4.28%

Persimmon (PSN) 1,093.00p 3.85%

Entain (ENT) 574.00p 3.54%

Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,151.00p 3.32%

Imperial Brands (IMB) 2,738.00p 2.47%

Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,095.00p 2.43%

Relx plc (REL) 2,501.00p 2.33%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Vodafone Group (VOD) 112.20p -3.90%

Anglo American (AAL) 3,547.00p -3.35%

Fresnillo (FRES) 2,515.00p -3.34%

Airtel Africa (AAF) 337.80p -3.26%

Antofagasta (ANTO) 3,742.00p -2.63%

Glencore (GLEN) 517.50p -2.40%

Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 1,412.50p -2.32%

BT Group (BT.A) 194.40p -2.21%

BAE Systems (BA.) 1,813.00p -2.16%

BP (BP.) 507.70p -1.70%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Vistry Group (VTY) 274.20p 6.61%

Bridgepoint Group (Reg S) (BPT) 310.20p 5.94%

Bellway (BWY) 1,956.00p 3.99%

Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 778.00p 3.80%

Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 82.42p 3.52%

Savills (SVS) 926.00p 3.46%

Kainos Group (KNOS) 807.50p 3.46%

RHI Magnesita N.V. (DI) (RHIM) 2,905.00p 3.38%

Rathbones Group (RAT) 1,704.00p 3.02%

Foresight Group Holdings Limited NPV (FSG) 469.00p 2.96%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Raspberry PI Holdings (RPI) 756.50p -7.74%

Seraphim Space Investment Trust (SSIT) 174.20p -7.34%

B&M European Value Retail (BME) 193.00p -5.39%

XP Power Ltd. (DI) (XPP) 1,750.00p -4.79%

BlackRock World Mining Trust (BRWM) 864.00p -3.57%

Bloomsbury Publishing (BMY) 622.00p -3.42%

W.A.G Payment Solutions (EWG) 105.00p -3.14%

Ithaca Energy (ITH) 230.00p -2.79%

Pan African Resources (PAF) 90.85p -2.78%

CMC Markets (CMCX) 720.00p -2.70%