London midday: FTSE falls as oil prices rise amid Hormuz uncertainty

(Sharecast News) - London stocks edged lower in early trade on Monday as oil prices rose amid continued uncertainty over the reopening of the vital strait of Hormuz.

The FTSE 100 was down 0.3% at 10,874.27, while Brent crude was up 1.2% at $84.51 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate was 1.1% higher at $79.04.

Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi has confirmed that talks with Oman about reopening Hormuz are in their final stages. However, he said a deal would not automatically lead to the reopening of the waterway and Iran has made it clear that there would need to be further US concessions, including US force withdrawals, war damages and sanctions relief.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "The FTSE 100 dipped in early trading in stark contrast to the fireworks seen on Wall Street late last week.

"The US rally was supported by weaker-than-anticipated US jobs numbers which helped dial down fears about an imminent rate hike from the Federal Reserve.

"The Iran conflict remains a key source of concern for markets with a lasting resolution seeming a distant prospect at this point. Tehran has apparently resisted direct negotiations with Washington over a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz until several conditions are met."

On the corporate front, Plus500 shot higher as the fintech kept its full-year outlook unchanged after delivering record interim numbers, with revenue up 12% year-on-year to $462.9m, customer income rising 24% to a fiveyear high of $460.8m, and EBITDA edging up 1% to $187.5m.

On the downside, building products manufacturer Marshalls fell as it posted a rise in first-half profit but a dip in revenue, and said it assumes no material market recovery in the second half.

Vistry tumbled following a report that leading credit insurer Allianz Trade is reducing the cover it extends to suppliers of the housebuilder.

According to the Financial Times, citing people familiar with the decision, the insurer warned suppliers in recent weeks that it is adjusting its credit limits for Vistry. One of the sources said the final level of cover provided will depend on Vistry's financial performance in the weeks ahead.

Russ Mould said: "The share price reaction shows investors are concerned and this will only ramp up the pressure on the company to pay down debt as it looks to weather a tricky period for the property market."

Coca-Cola was knocked lower by a downgrade to 'neutral' from 'outperform' at BNP Paribas, while Legal & General fell after a downgrade to 'sell' from 'neutral' at Citi.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 10,874.27 -0.25%

FTSE 250 (MCX) 24,885.47 0.12%

techMARK (TASX) 6,159.48 -0.16%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Fresnillo (FRES) 2,928.00p 2.34%

Glencore (GLEN) 569.10p 2.17%

Melrose Industries (MRO) 491.60p 1.75%

Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 1,417.00p 1.47%

IG Group Holdings (IGG) 1,364.00p 1.19%

Antofagasta (ANTO) 4,020.00p 1.03%

Croda International (CRDA) 3,295.00p 0.89%

Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 1,542.80p 0.82%

Diageo (DGE) 1,802.00p 0.78%

BAE Systems (BA.) 2,231.00p 0.77%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 4,788.00p -3.47%

GSK (GSK) 1,918.00p -2.27%

British American Tobacco (BATS) 4,342.00p -1.76%

Admiral Group (ADM) 3,820.00p -1.75%

Legal & General Group (LGEN) 311.10p -1.68%

Imperial Brands (IMB) 2,746.00p -1.58%

Vodafone Group (VOD) 118.80p -1.37%

Bunzl (BNZL) 2,834.00p -1.25%

Whitbread (WTB) 2,498.00p -1.23%

Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,099.50p -1.21%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Plus500 Ltd (DI) (PLUS) 4,000.00p 5.86%

Shawbrook Group (SHAW) 342.75p 3.07%

Seraphim Space Investment Trust (SSIT) 193.40p 2.76%

Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) 128.30p 2.72%

Chemring Group (CHG) 644.50p 2.71%

Ithaca Energy (ITH) 237.50p 2.64%

Raspberry PI Holdings (RPI) 713.50p 2.37%

THG (THG) 34.30p 2.27%

Playtech (PTEC) 375.40p 2.18%

Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 768.00p 1.93%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Vistry Group (VTY) 261.60p -7.48%

WPP (WPP) 400.20p -2.58%

Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 495.50p -1.98%

Globaldata (DATA) 85.35p -1.61%

International Workplace Group (IWG) 187.00p -1.37%

Harworth Group (HWG) 179.00p -1.10%

Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 1,082.00p -1.10%

ICG Enterprise Trust (ICGT) 1,462.00p -1.08%

Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 34.82p -1.08%

Domino's Pizza Group (DOM) 203.20p -1.07%