London close: Stocks drop as peace deal hopes underwhelm, oil sinks

(Sharecast News) - UK stocks dropped sharply on Tuesday, with the FTSE 100 falling to its lowest in nearly four weeks despite increased hopes that a peace deal in the Middle East was nearing its final stages.

London's blue chip index sank 1.4% to 10,227.33, its lowest finish since 15 May, with heavy falls in the banking, mining and oil sectors.

"The blue-chip FTSE 100 [was] held back in part by the falling oil price as today's Middle East update initially appeared to be cautiously optimistic," said Danni Hewson, head of financial analysis at AJ Bell. "Investors are displaying an abundance of caution as an agreed pause in attacks by Iran and Israel appears to have stalled almost before it began."

Talks on a peace agreement with Iran were in their "final throes" US President Donald Trump claimed, even as Israel continued to attack Lebanon and ordered residents out of the city of Tyre.

Brent crude prices dropped 4.9% to $89.63 a barrel after Trump said talks on a peace deal with Iran were in their "final throes of what will be a very, very good deal". Brent has not settled below the $90 mark since the end of March.

When asked whether it would be matter of days or weeks, Trump claimed an agreement would take "two or three days", adding that the strait of Hormuz would "open up right away" once it was signed.

On home shores, the Confederation of British Industry trimmed its UK growth forecasts while sharply revising inflation expectations upwards, on the back of the ongoing war in the Middle East. Publishing its latest Economic Forecast, the employers' organisation expects GDP to grow by 1.1% in 2026 and 0.9% in 2027. In December, it predicted GDP growth of 1.3% for this year and 1.5% for the next.

Banks and resource stocks drop

Banking peers Standard Chartered and HSBC were among the FTSE 100's worst performers, while falling metal and oil prices weighed heavily on blue chips Glencore, Antogasta, BP and Shell.

BP was making headlines after it set out plans to reorganise the business into the two units, Upstream and Downstream, as it attempts to streamline and become more efficient. Chief executive Meg O'Neill said the changes will cut down on complexity and strengthen execution, and are "an important step in accelerating delivery".

Bunzl was up after Exane BNP Paribas upgraded the shares to 'outperform' from 'neutral' and hiked the price target to 3,000p from 2,450p as it said the market has priced the company for permanent damage, but overshot.

GSK was under the cosh after it agreed to buy Boston-based oncology-focused biopharmaceutical firm Nuvalent for $10.6bn (�7.9bn).

On the FTSE 250, WPP was the top gainer after an initiation at 'buy' by Berenberg, while geotechnical contractor Keller gained after it was awarded a contract variation order in relation to the reconstruction of the I-40 highway in the US.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 10,227.33 -1.41%

FTSE 250 (MCX) 22,837.96 -0.76%

techMARK (TASX) 5,886.51 -1.83%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 8,262.00p 4.32%

Croda International (CRDA) 2,976.00p 3.95%

Bunzl (BNZL) 2,554.00p 2.41%

Entain (ENT) 583.40p 2.39%

Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (DI) (CCEP) 7,265.00p 2.25%

Unilever (ULVR) 4,284.50p 2.23%

British Land Company (BLND) 403.60p 1.87%

Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 4,416.00p 1.80%

Metlen Energy & Metals (MTLN) 40.52p 1.53%

Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,440.00p 1.42%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,811.00p -6.31%

Fresnillo (FRES) 2,868.00p -5.10%

HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 1,311.40p -4.39%

Prudential (PRU) 916.00p -4.22%

Glencore (GLEN) 569.20p -4.05%

St James's Place (STJ) 1,143.50p -3.54%

Antofagasta (ANTO) 3,846.00p -3.39%

BP (BP.) 529.30p -2.99%

BT Group (BT.A) 197.45p -2.97%

Weir Group (WEIR) 2,326.00p -2.92%

FTSE 250 - Risers

WPP (WPP) 276.70p 5.53%

Grainger (GRI) 159.40p 3.98%

Genuit Group (GEN) 262.40p 3.23%

Derwent London (DLN) 1,817.00p 3.12%

easyJet (EZJ) 480.20p 3.00%

Great Portland Estates (GPE) 308.60p 2.80%

Breedon Group (BREE) 282.40p 2.54%

Premier Foods (PFD) 202.80p 2.22%

Rank Group (RNK) 100.00p 2.04%

Marshalls (MSLH) 132.50p 1.92%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 2,798.00p -9.33%

Raspberry PI Holdings (RPI) 950.00p -8.61%

Genus (GNS) 2,072.00p -7.33%

Ceres Power Holdings (CWR) 609.50p -6.23%

Computacenter (CCC) 4,134.00p -5.18%

Hays (HAS) 34.68p -4.93%

Harbour Energy (HBR) 256.80p -4.39%

Hochschild Mining (HOC) 512.50p -4.38%

Allianz Technology Trust (ATT) 685.00p -4.20%

Renishaw (RSW) 4,972.00p -4.02%