(Sharecast News) - London stocks fell in early trade on Wednesday as Brent crude closed in on $100 a barrel amid escalating tensions between the US and Iran.
At 0825 BST, the FTSE 100 was down 0.3% at 10,778.74, while Brent crude was up 1.8% at $99.64 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate was 1.4% higher at $94.35 after US military strikes on Iranian oil tankers near Kharg island.
Patrick Munnelly at Tickmill Group said: "With Brent now up more than 60% year-to-date, renewed security concerns around the Strait of Hormuz are tightening the market's focus on supply fragility, energy pass-through and the return of stagflation risk.
"The timing is awkward for the Federal Reserve. Investors are now looking to Friday's US CPI print for evidence of whether the latest energy surge is starting to bleed into inflation expectations and pricing behaviour ahead of the September 15-16 FOMC meeting. Crude near $100 materially complicates the easing narrative and leaves duration exposed to another repricing of the policy path."
In equity markets, BP and Shell gushed higher in tandem with oil prices.
Utilities were also in the black, with British Gas owner Centrica, National Grid, United Utilities and Severn Trent among the top performers on the FTSE 100.
Polymer solutions firm Victrex surged after it lifted its fullyear profit guidance as strong trading momentum continued into the final quarter. The company now expects underlying pre-tax profits of £45m to £47m for FY26, up from previous guidance for £42m to £44m.
Israel-focused oil and gas producer Energean was also in the black despite posting a fall in half-year profit as a result of a 41-day production suspension due to the US-Israeli war on Iran. The company said core earnings fell 5% to $478m in the six months to 30 June and reiterated guidance for the full year. However, it cut exploration expenditure forecasts to $5-10m from $10-15m.
On the downside, luxury fashion brand Burberry was hit by a downgrade to 'hold' from 'buy' at HSBC, which said the turnaround has progressed well, but there is not much scope for upwards sales and earnings revisions from here.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 10,778.74 -0.30%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 24,301.64 -0.19%
techMARK (TASX) 6,017.05 -0.12%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Computacenter (CCC) 5,295.00p 2.71%
BP (BP.) 559.10p 1.51%
Shell (SHEL) 3,531.50p 1.00%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,033.50p 0.88%
National Grid (NG.) 1,162.00p 0.87%
Centrica (CNA) 154.15p 0.85%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 1,343.00p 0.83%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,958.00p 0.82%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 11,888.00p 0.79%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 5,086.00p 0.63%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,048.50p -3.83%
Autotrader Group (AUTO) 500.60p -2.15%
Diageo (DGE) 1,596.00p -1.61%
BAE Systems (BA.) 1,910.00p -1.47%
Admiral Group (ADM) 3,798.00p -1.40%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,120.50p -1.37%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 4,538.00p -1.35%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 492.90p -1.34%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 962.80p -1.21%
Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 3,800.00p -1.20%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Victrex plc (VCT) 988.00p 14.04%
FirstGroup (FGP) 171.60p 7.01%
Energean (ENOG) 844.00p 5.43%
Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 2.56p 5.19%
W.A.G Payment Solutions (EWG) 100.20p 5.00%
XPS Pensions Group (XPS) 327.50p 4.97%
Michael Page (PAGE) 216.00p 4.80%
Morgan Sindall Group (MGNS) 4,132.00p 4.55%
Ninety One (N91) 211.80p 3.95%
Target Healthcare Reit Ltd (THRL) 115.00p 3.79%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Avon Technologies (AVON) 1,750.00p -4.89%
4Imprint Group (FOUR) 4,208.00p -4.06%
Hansa Investment Company Limited (DI) (HAN) 326.00p -2.41%
SSP Group (SSPG) 189.10p -2.30%
Breedon Group (BREE) 328.00p -2.21%
Schroder Oriental Income Fund Ltd. (SOI) 453.50p -2.05%
Vistry Group (VTY) 267.80p -2.05%
Bridgepoint Group (Reg S) (BPT) 300.60p -2.02%
Ashoka India Equity Investment Trust (AIE) 252.50p -1.98%
Barr (A.G.) (BAG) 590.00p -1.83%
108.21 (1.00%)
0.00