London midday: Stocks stay down as Trump threatens Iranian infrastructure

(Sharecast News) - London stocks were still lower by midday on Wednesday after Donald Trump threatened to expand US strikes on Iran and target the country's infrastructure.

The FTSE 100 was down 0.3% at 10,501.56, while Brent crude was up 1% at $85.58 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate was 0.8% higher at $79.98.

In an interview with Fox News on Tuesday, Trump threatened to expand military strikes and continue to hit Iran "very hard" until it returns to the negotiating table.

"We're going to hit them very hard tonight," he said in an interview with Fox News chief foreign correspondent Trey Yingst. "We're going to hit them hard tomorrow night. We're gonna hit them really hard the night after."

He added: "Next week it gets really bad for them because next week comes the power plants.

"Next week comes the bridges. We're gonna knock out all their power plants. We're going to knock out all their bridges unless they get to the table and negotiate."

The US President's comments came after he abandoned plans to impose a 20% charge on cargo shipments through the vital Strait of Hormuz.

Meanwhile, according to Axios, Trump held a Situation Room meeting on Tuesday to discuss a massive offensive in Iran that will be wider in scope than the current strikes around the Strait of Hormuz.

Citing three sources with knowledge, Axios said Trump was joined in the Situation Room by his top national security team. Sources said the meeting focused on new plans for devastating strikes on strategic targets in Iran, in addition to the strikes against Iranian targets in the Strait of Hormuz.

Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell, said: "The course of events in the Middle East continues to take twists and turns, with the latest being Donald Trump reversing a threat of a 20% fee on all Strait of Hormuz cargo shipping.

"He has since threatened to 'knock out' power plants and bridges unless peace talks resume. This ongoing uncertainty continues to leave investors slightly cautious, with markets down across Europe."

In equity markets, asset manager ICG rose to the top of the FTSE 100 as it hailed a strong first quarter, with fee-earning assets under management up 3% in the quarter and 10% year-on-year to $88bn.

Barratt Redrow also rallied after saying it has launched a new share buyback programme as part of a new �400m capital return in FY27, following a "solid performance" over the financial year to 28 June, with profits in line with market expectations. Total home completions for the year came in at the upper end of guidance at 17,667, with further growth targeted for the current financial year.

Peers Persimmon, Bellway, Vistry and Taylor Wimpey also gained.

Iconic bootmaker Dr Martens edged up as it backed its full-year guidance ahead of its annual general meeting, and said it was on track with its strategic objectives.

Savills was boosted by an initiation at 'buy' at Berenberg, which highlighted the real estate advisor's "misunderstood earnings quality".

On the downside, precious metals miner Fresnillo lost its shine as gold prices slipped, while copper miner Antofagasta fell after data showed that China's economy grew at the slowest pace in more than three years in the second quarter.

Dan Coatsworth said: "China's GDP grew by 4.3% in the second quarter year-on-year, below the 4.5% to 5% target. The data reading took the market by surprise and might stir speculation that the Chinese government will dig deeper with economic stimulus measures."

Discount retailer B&M European Value Retail slumped as it reported a 2.3% decline in UK like-for-like sales in the first quarter, although this was offset by a strong performance in France.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 10,501.56 -0.26%

FTSE 250 (MCX) 23,350.79 -0.24%

techMARK (TASX) 5,871.71 -0.57%

FTSE 100 - Risers

ICG (ICG) 1,845.00p 2.73%

Barratt Redrow (BTRW) 284.80p 2.41%

Imperial Brands (IMB) 2,721.00p 1.91%

Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,082.00p 1.40%

Persimmon (PSN) 1,065.50p 1.33%

Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 8,130.00p 1.22%

St James's Place (STJ) 1,168.00p 1.13%

Entain (ENT) 558.60p 0.79%

NATWEST GROUP (NWG) 656.40p 0.61%

Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,119.50p 0.54%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Fresnillo (FRES) 2,517.00p -3.46%

Vodafone Group (VOD) 114.10p -2.23%

Antofagasta (ANTO) 3,763.00p -2.19%

BT Group (BT.A) 195.00p -1.91%

Convatec Group (CTEC) 207.20p -1.71%

Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 4,882.00p -1.57%

Unilever (ULVR) 4,493.00p -1.54%

Airtel Africa (AAF) 345.40p -1.32%

Haleon (HLN) 355.50p -1.28%

International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 452.80p -1.24%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 784.00p 4.60%

Vistry Group (VTY) 265.60p 3.34%

Bridgepoint Group (Reg S) (BPT) 302.00p 3.07%

Kier Group (KIE) 218.60p 2.25%

Pacific Horizon Inv Trust (PHI) 1,100.00p 1.66%

IntegraFin Holding (IHP) 380.50p 1.60%

IP Group (IPO) 64.30p 1.58%

Savills (SVS) 910.00p 1.56%

RHI Magnesita N.V. (DI) (RHIM) 2,850.00p 1.42%

Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 80.66p 1.38%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

B&M European Value Retail (BME) 188.30p -7.35%

Bloomsbury Publishing (BMY) 614.00p -4.50%

CMC Markets (CMCX) 708.00p -4.32%

Seraphim Space Investment Trust (SSIT) 180.80p -3.83%

THG (THG) 30.12p -3.65%

Close Brothers Group (CBG) 403.00p -3.54%

Globaldata (DATA) 73.20p -2.92%

Rank Group (RNK) 93.60p -2.80%

Supermarket Income Reit (SUPR) 86.70p -2.59%

Pan African Resources (PAF) 91.00p -2.51%