London midday: FTSE edges up as Iran said to have made peace proposal to US

(Sharecast News) - London stocks had edged higher by midday on Monday, while oil prices rose, as investors continued to mull the latest developments in the US-Iran war following a report that Tehran has put forward a peace proposal, and after a second round of talks over the weekend failed to materialise.

The FTSE 100 was up 0.2% at 10,394.91, while Brent crude was 1.5% higher at $106.93 a barrel.

Iran has reportedly given the US a new proposal to reopen the Strait `of Hormuz and end the war.

According to Axios, which cited a US official and two sources with knowledge of the matter, the new proposal was given to the US via Pakistani mediators. It was understood that the proposal focuses on solving the crisis over the strait and the US blockade first.

As part of that, the ceasefire would be extended for a long period or the parties would agree on a permanent end to the war.

Nuclear negotiations would only start at a later stage, after the strait was open and the blockade lifted.

According to Axios, the White House has received the proposal, but it's unclear whether it is willing to explore it.

Axios also cited three US officials as saying that Trump is expected to hold a Situation Room meeting on Iran on Monday, with his top national security and foreign policy team. One source said the president's team would discuss the stalemate in the negotiations and potential next steps.

News of the potential peace proposal came after Donald Trump cancelled a planned trip by US officials to Pakistan for peace talks with Iran over the weekend, shortly after Tehran's delegation left Islamabad.

Special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner had been due to depart for Islamabad on Saturday but Trump said he had called off the trip as there was no point sending his envoys on an 18-hour flight "to just sit there".

"I just cancelled the trip of my representatives going is [sic] Islamabad, Pakistan, to meet with the Iranians. Too much time wasted on traveling, too much work!" he said on Truth Social.

Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist at Wealth Club, said: "The rug has been pulled by the Trump administration, sending plans for talks over Iran skidding once again. The President said negotiators would be wasting their time heading to Pakistan and the lack of progress has hit sentiment at the start of the week."

Streeter said oil prices have cruised higher again, "but some hopes of a resolution are being kept alive, with reports that Iran has put another proposal on the table which aimed at de-escalating the conflict and potentially seeing the key Strait of Hormuz reopen".

She added that details are scant about the offer and patience on both sides is "clearly frayed".

Looking ahead to the rest of the week, policy announcements will be in focus, with the Federal Reserve, the Bank of England, the European Central Bank and the Bank of Canada all due to outline their latest decisions. All are expected to keep their policy rates unchanged.

Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "Given the uncertainty generated by the Middle East conflict, no change looks to be the order of the day, and the BoE is no exception, with markets expecting a hold at 3.75%. UK economic activity has been resilient so far, but much of this could be due to demand being pulled forward, and a slowdown is widely anticipated.

"Investors will be looking into the tea leaves of the meeting minutes for clues as to whether supporting growth or stemming inflation will be the priority later in the year."

US earnings will also be in the spotlight, with five of the 'Magnificent Seven' due to report this week.

In equity markets, Premier Inn owner Whitbread gained following a report it will sell a swathe of hotels to unlock �1.5bn for shareholders. According to The Times, the company will announce plans later this week for the sale and leaseback of one in five of the freehold hotel properties it currently owns outright, following a strategic review of its business model.

Whitbread's full-year results are due on Thursday.

On the downside, Entain tumbled on news that major shareholder Eminence Capital - which has a stake of about 6.5% - is being shuttered.

Sainsbury's slumped after Goldman Sachs double downgraded the stock to 'sell' from 'buy' and cut the price target to 335p from 390p.

Intertek fell after it rejected a revised takeover proposal from Swedish private equity firm EQT at 5,400p per share, up from 5,150p.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 10,394.91 0.15%

FTSE 250 (MCX) 22,644.95 0.28%

techMARK (TASX) 5,863.90 0.11%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Metlen Energy & Metals (MTLN) 34.98p 1.98%

Whitbread (WTB) 2,500.00p 1.63%

Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,167.00p 1.60%

Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 8,248.00p 1.58%

Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 1,143.00p 1.38%

Halma (HLMA) 4,487.00p 1.38%

BP (BP.) 579.00p 1.36%

M&G (MNG) 298.40p 1.26%

Smiths Group (SMIN) 2,554.00p 1.03%

Games Workshop Group (GAW) 19,660.00p 0.98%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Entain (ENT) 560.40p -6.60%

Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 334.60p -2.87%

BT Group (BT.A) 218.65p -1.86%

Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 341.60p -1.76%

Intertek Group (ITRK) 4,730.00p -1.64%

British American Tobacco (BATS) 4,232.00p -1.60%

Weir Group (WEIR) 2,950.00p -1.40%

Haleon (HLN) 350.80p -1.30%

Airtel Africa (AAF) 351.00p -1.13%

Mondi (MNDI) 739.00p -1.04%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Renishaw (RSW) 4,664.00p 4.63%

Ceres Power Holdings (CWR) 524.00p 3.46%

Raspberry PI Holdings (RPI) 615.50p 3.36%

Greencoat UK Wind (UKW) 102.00p 3.02%

Foresight Environmental Infrastructure Limited (FGEN) 72.40p 2.84%

Frasers Group (FRAS) 675.50p 2.58%

Bluefield Solar Income Fund Limited (BSIF) 83.70p 2.07%

Pets at Home Group (PETS) 188.60p 2.06%

Breedon Group (BREE) 313.40p 1.95%

Energean (ENOG) 860.50p 1.90%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 190.10p -3.60%

THG (THG) 36.04p -3.38%

Spire Healthcare Group (SPI) 159.80p -1.72%

Pollen Street Group Limited (POLN) 836.00p -1.42%

Genuit Group (GEN) 264.20p -1.27%

WH Smith (SMWH) 558.00p -1.24%

Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 606.00p -1.14%

Utilico Emerging Markets Ltd (DI) (UEM) 288.00p -1.03%

Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 867.50p -0.97%

Endeavour Mining (EDV) 4,504.00p -0.97%