(Sharecast News) - It was another day of seesaw trading for equities on Wednesday, with the FTSE 100 pulling back after a surge the previous session, as investors continued to react to wild swings in energy markets and assess subsequent inflation risks.
The FTSE 100, which dropped to a six-week low of 10,249.52 at the start of the week before jumping 1.6% on Tuesday, finished 0.6% lower at 10,353.77, tracking heavy losses registered across Europe. The Footsie has now fallen in six of the past eight sessions.
Brent crude was 5.6% higher at $92.68 a barrel by the close in London on reports that three vessels had been hit by "projectiles" in the Strait of Hormuz, with Iran said to be laying mines in the key waterway, which accounts for 20% of global oil shipments.
Wednesday's price surge came despite the International Energy Agency ordering the release of 400 million barrels of oil reserves - the largest in its history - to help ease the supply and price spike crisis caused by the US-Israeli attacks on Iran. The emergency intervention far outstrips the 2022 release of 182m barrels of oil by IEA countries after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Oil prices hit $119.50 a barrel at the start of this week before plunging below $90 on reports the IEA was preparing to act. Economists fear a spike in inflation and falling share markets if the war continues.
"The [IEA] release relives some pressure in the market and eases some concerns about an immediate shortage of barrels, but it does not reset prices lower," said Neil Wilson from Saxo Markets.
"Firstly it was well discounted by the market as talk about the release sent prices well below really where they ought to be given the crisis - sub $100 is a sign that the release chatter has helped ease market worries already - this was a buy the rumour, sell the fact event."
Smiths Group hit by downgrade; banks fall
Smiths Group was under the cosh after BNP Paribas cut its stance on the engineer to 'neutral' from 'outperform', lowering its price target for the shares to 2,700p from 2,900p.
Lending peers Barclays, NatWest, Lloyds and HSBC finished lower on the same day that challenger Revolut was granted a UK banking licence by the Prudential Regulation Authority. The approval, which comes after a four-year wait, paves the way for the bank to start offering a wider range of services, including lending and other products, to its existing 13m UK customers.
Legal & General slumped after underwhelming investors with its biggest ever share buyback, as full-year core operating profit came in a touch light of expectations.
Harbour Energy tanked after its third-largest shareholder, EIG Management, sold 60m shares in a placing to institutional investors, raising about 153m.
4Imprint tumbled after results, as it said tariff-related costs may influence revenue and margins in 2026,
Hochschild Mining was also weaker even as it reported a rise in annual earnings as geopolitical turmoil boosted precious metals prices.
On the upside, Balfour Beatty rallied after it posted a jump in full-year profits, driven by strong performances in UK construction and support services.
Construction materials group Breedon racked up strong gains as it hailed another year of revenue and EBITDA growth and a record cash performance.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 10,353.77 -0.56%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 22,354.93 -0.61%
techMARK (TASX) 5,848.34 -0.37%
FTSE 100 - Risers
BP (BP.) 514.00p 2.89%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 467.30p 2.48%
Shell (SHEL) 3,244.00p 2.00%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 133.45p 1.44%
Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 8,050.00p 1.44%
Mondi (MNDI) 843.00p 0.76%
3i Group (III) 2,950.00p 0.68%
BT Group (BT.A) 207.20p 0.63%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,215.00p 0.41%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,243.50p 0.40%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 241.00p -6.70%
Smiths Group (SMIN) 2,482.00p -4.61%
ICG (ICG) 1,527.00p -4.44%
Fresnillo (FRES) 3,654.00p -3.13%
Spirax Group (SPX) 7,120.00p -2.86%
Airtel Africa (AAF) 337.60p -2.76%
Convatec Group (CTEC) 236.20p -2.72%
CRH (CDI) (CRH) 7,754.00p -2.59%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 1,383.00p -2.40%
Diageo (DGE) 1,492.00p -2.36%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Balfour Beatty (BBY) 764.50p 8.90%
Bodycote (BOY) 764.00p 7.91%
Breedon Group (BREE) 337.00p 4.72%
Raspberry PI Holdings (RPI) 310.60p 4.09%
Shawbrook Group (SHAW) 411.00p 3.72%
HGCapital Trust (HGT) 410.00p 3.27%
Domino's Pizza Group (DOM) 192.00p 2.78%
Ithaca Energy (ITH) 243.50p 2.53%
Vietnam Enterprise Investments (DI) (VEIL) 752.00p 2.45%
International Personal Finance (IPF) 254.50p 2.41%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
4Imprint Group (FOUR) 3,600.00p -6.86%
International Workplace Group (IWG) 191.70p -6.03%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 649.50p -5.66%
TP Icap Group (TCAP) 245.50p -5.21%
Harbour Energy (HBR) 270.20p -4.93%
Pan African Resources (PAF) 154.40p -3.86%
Endeavour Mining (EDV) 4,616.00p -3.59%
Energean (ENOG) 854.50p -3.42%
Vistry Group (VTY) 402.60p -3.41%
Close Brothers Group (CBG) 429.00p -3.29%
58.47 (0.56%)
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