London midday: FTSE pops higher in quiet trade; US sanctions eyed

(Sharecast News) - London stocks had popped into the black by midday on Monday in quiet trade, as investors eyed details of fresh US sanctions on Iran.

The FTSE 100 was up 0.2% at 10,842.60, reversing earlier small losses.

Meanwhile, Brent crude was down 1.6% at $92.93 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate was 2.1% lower at $85.21 after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the US will announce the toughest sanctions in history against Iran later on Monday.

"At dawn begins an economic D-Day - the single greatest financial offensive ever marshaled against an adversary," Bessent said on X.

Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist at Wealth Club, said: "The US is changing tactics in its battle against Iran, and its fight to get oil flowing more freely from the region. Sanctions are the latest weapon of choice and the arsenal is set to be unveiled at a press conference later.

"Using the invective the administration has become infamous for, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated in an interview that 'economic D-Day is coming for Iran'. The emphasis is expected to be on isolating Iran economically and targeting its trading partners, with oil exports and the financial channels supporting Tehran likely to be central to the measures. But quite how effective this will be, given China is Iran's biggest customer for oil, is far from clear. The reaction on oil markets has been muted, with Brent crude dropping slightly but still trading around $93 a barrel.

"There may be some relief that the threats have moved from military strikes to some form of super sanctions, but there is little confidence that a route to a peace deal will open up any time soon, with Iranian Supreme National Security Council secretary Mohsen Rezaei vowing to halt oil exports from the Gulf if the economic war continues. However, there are some hints that there may be splits opening up within Iran's leadership about strategy and increased willingness among some to get back to the negotiating table."

Looking ahead to the rest of the week, quarterly results from Nvidia are due after the close on Wednesday, while new Federal Reserve chair Kevin Warsh will deliver a hotly-anticipated speech at the Jackson Hole Symposium on Friday.

Corporate news was scarce as the summer lull well and truly kicked in ahead of the Bank Holiday weekend, but Shell was in focus following a report it has drawn interest from potential bidders, including ExxonMobil and LyondellBasell, for its US chemical assets. According to the Financial Times, the assets could fetch up to $8bn.

Elsewhere, GSK fell despite saying that its experimental hepatitis B drug had received its first global approval in Japan, while `Jemperli has been granted priority review by the US Food and Drug administration as a potential treatment for rectal cancer.

Diploma gained after an upgrade to 'overweight' from 'neutral' at JPMorgan.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 10,842.60 0.24%

FTSE 250 (MCX) 24,735.33 0.07%

techMARK (TASX) 6,152.01 -0.27%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Weir (WEIR) 2,872.00p 2.57%

Airtel Africa (AAF) 335.20p 2.44%

Antofagasta (ANTO) 3,978.00p 2.00%

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 162.45p 1.94%

Anglo American (AAL) 4,142.00p 1.92%

International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 430.70p 1.89%

Halma (HLMA) 3,570.00p 1.82%

IG Group Holdings (IGG) 1,356.00p 1.80%

Diploma (DPLM) 7,320.00p 1.67%

Diageo (DGE) 1,747.50p 1.66%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Fresnillo (FRES) 3,166.00p -1.80%

Autotrader Group (AUTO) 540.40p -1.39%

BP (BP.) 543.70p -1.06%

AstraZeneca (AZN) 12,110.00p -0.96%

GSK (GSK) 1,903.50p -0.78%

Experian (EXPN) 2,936.00p -0.71%

Melrose Industries (MRO) 468.50p -0.66%

Kingfisher (KGF) 319.00p -0.65%

Games Workshop Group (GAW) 18,540.00p -0.64%

Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 1,456.50p -0.51%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Seraphim Space Investment Trust (SSIT) 187.20p 2.07%

BlackRock World Mining Trust (BRWM) 1,036.00p 1.77%

Greggs (GRG) 1,871.00p 1.74%

WPP (WPP) 392.10p 1.60%

Shawbrook Group (SHAW) 327.75p 1.47%

Hays (HAS) 73.00p 1.46%

Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 688.50p 1.40%

Travis Perkins (TPK) 657.50p 1.39%

Trainline (TRN) 200.20p 1.37%

Cranswick (CWK) 5,410.00p 1.31%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Rightmove (RMV) 503.20p -2.78%

Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 512.00p -2.66%

Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) 165.60p -2.59%

Kainos Group (KNOS) 1,261.00p -2.55%

Pacific Horizon Inv Trust (PHI) 1,090.00p -2.33%

Schroder Asia Pacific Fund (SDP) 820.00p -2.03%

Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 33.60p -1.87%

Hansa Investment Company Limited (DI) (HAN) 332.00p -1.78%

Ocado Group (OCDO) 235.20p -1.67%

Hochschild Mining (HOC) 625.50p -1.65%