(Sharecast News) - London stocks had pared earlier losses to trade flat by midday on Thursday, while oil prices kept rising as tensions between the US and Iran continued to escalate.
The FTSE 100 was steady at 10,713.21. Meanwhile, Brent crude was up 4.6% at $98.39 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate was 3.9% higher at $90.24 following reports that Iranian-backed Houthi militants targeted two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea and after Donald Trump threatened once again to bomb Iranian infrastructure.
In a post on Truth Social on Wednesday, the US president said: "From this point forward, any time the Islamic Republic of Iran shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz, whether it be by Missile, Rocket, Drone, or any other device or weapon, the United States will bomb and destroy ONE BRIDGE OR POWER PLANT, including those located next to, or in, the Capital City of Tehran."
Investors were also mulling second-quarter earnings from Tesla and Google-owner Alphabet released overnight.
Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said the top-flight index was benefiting from its limited exposure to tech and from its healthy weighting in energy.
"This followed an uncertain start to the earnings season for Wall Street's technology titans and a further increase in oil prices which are creeping closer to $100 per barrel alarm bell territory," he said. "There seems little sign that tensions will cool between Washington and Tehran in the near term - though investors have been through enough handbrake turns in this conflict to not take anything for granted.
"In Asia, AI infrastructure plays were higher as Tesla and Alphabet revealed continued increases in their spending in this area."
On home shores, new prime minister Andy Burnham announced a 20% cut in business rates for pubs, clubs and live music venues across England. The move, which will cost around 100m a year, will be partly funded by reviewing reliefs for businesses that "do not make a positive contribution to local communities", such as vape shops.
Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist at Wealth Club, said: "Given operators had been calling for much steeper relief, such as a cut in VAT from 20% to 9%, bringing the UK more into line with European peers, today's measures look more like a small top-up than a game-changing pint of support.
"Investors are also mindful that hospitality businesses continue to grapple with higher wage bills, elevated National Insurance contributions and stubborn input costs, all of which continue to squeeze margins."
Looking to the rest of the day, the European Central Bank is widely expected to keep the deposit rate unchanged at 2.25% when it makes its latest policy announcement at 1315 BST.
On the corporate front, 3i Group surged as it said its largest holding, Dutch discount retailer Action, delivered a strong financial performance in the first quarter.
Segro shot up, having announced after the close of markets on Wednesday that it would be minded to recommend a 14bn final takeover approach by US logistics giant Prologis should a firm offer be made.
Aston Margin motored ahead after the luxury car maker announced late on Wednesday a new 550m debt financing with BlackRock-owned HPS Investment Partners, strengthening its financial position and allowing it to execute on its long-term growth ambition.
EasyJet was in focus as it reported a drop in third-quarter headline pre-tax profit to 85m from 286m in the same period a year earlier as it was hit by high fuel prices and a reduction in consumer demand following the onset of the conflict in the Middle East.
Shares jumped, however, recovering from heavy losses on Wednesday following a report the European Union is preparing a review of airline ownership rules to prevent foreign investors from gaining effective control of carriers - a move that could threaten US bids for the budget airline.
On the downside, British Gas owner Centrica slid as it posted softer first-half earnings, weighed down by production outages and Spirit Energy disposals, and announced plans to cut around 1,300 jobs.
Mitchells & Butlers tumbled as it said third-quarter sales were hit by the heatwave, while BT Group also fell after a trading update.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 10,713.21 -0.04%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 23,843.12 -0.35%
techMARK (TASX) 5,967.48 0.18%
FTSE 100 - Risers
3i Group (III) 2,744.00p 7.19%
SEGRO (SGRO) 956.00p 6.65%
Anglo American (AAL) 3,722.00p 5.97%
BP (BP.) 556.10p 3.13%
BAE Systems (BA.) 1,974.50p 2.65%
Shell (SHEL) 3,352.00p 1.58%
Spirax Group (SPX) 6,980.00p 1.53%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 1,136.00p 1.48%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 118.25p 1.33%
Glencore (GLEN) 544.60p 1.25%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Centrica (CNA) 164.10p -7.74%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 429.40p -3.62%
Croda International (CRDA) 2,868.00p -3.01%
Whitbread (WTB) 2,379.00p -2.82%
Computacenter (CCC) 4,776.00p -2.42%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 4,852.00p -2.41%
Compass Group 11 (CPG) 30.16p -2.36%
SSE (SSE) 2,446.00p -2.35%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 428.60p -2.28%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 1,316.50p -2.19%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 37.50p 6.24%
easyJet (EZJ) 616.00p 5.50%
Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 3,012.00p 4.94%
Hays (HAS) 59.75p 3.92%
Pagegroup (PAGE) 181.00p 3.86%
Harbour Energy (HBR) 260.80p 3.33%
Hill and Smith (HILS) 3,095.00p 2.31%
Ithaca Energy (ITH) 258.20p 2.13%
Fidelity Emerging Markets Limited Ptg NPV (FEML) 1,448.00p 2.12%
Chemring Group (CHG) 606.00p 2.11%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Capital Gearing Trust (CGT) 506.90p -90.29%
Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 261.50p -4.91%
Pennon Group (PNN) 472.40p -4.68%
CVS Group (CVSG) 1,244.00p -4.45%
Bloomsbury Publishing (BMY) 617.00p -4.34%
Partners Group Private Equity Limited. (EUR) (PEY) 7.14p -3.25%
Edinburgh Worldwide Inv Trust (EWI) 247.00p -3.14%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 189.50p -3.07%
AJ Bell (AJB) 597.00p -2.93%
Mondi (MNDI) 723.00p -2.88%
57.54 (0.54%)
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