London open: FTSE falls as Trump threatens harder strikes on Iran

(Sharecast News) - London stocks fell in early trade on Wednesday after Donald Trump threatened to expand US strikes on Iran, targeting its infrastructure.

At 0825 BST, the FTSE 100 was down 0.5% at 10,478.56, while Brent crude was up 1.3% at $85.80 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate was 1.1% higher at $80.24.

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.

In equity markets, Barratt Redrow was the standout performer on the FTSE 100 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 advanced as it backed its full-year guidance ahead of its annual general meeting, and said it was on track with its strategic objectives.

Galliford Try rose as it said full-year pre-tax profit was set to be at the top end of analysts' forecasts of �51.4m to �53.4m as momentum from the first half of the year continued through the second half.

On the downside, precious metals miner Fresnillo lost its shine as gold prices slipped, while copper miner Antofagasta also fell.

Discount retailer B&M European Value Retail was in the red as it reported a 2% rise in first-quarter revenue as a strong performance in France offset a 2.3% decline in UK like-for-like sales.

The lower UK sales were attributed to a slower start to garden and outdoor sales compared with last year, when unusually early warm and dry weather drove 10.9% LFL sales growth.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 10,478.56 -0.48%

FTSE 250 (MCX) 23,376.48 -0.13%

techMARK (TASX) 5,903.18 -0.04%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Barratt Redrow (BTRW) 287.60p 4.92%

Persimmon (PSN) 1,069.50p 2.71%

Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,093.00p 1.78%

Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,127.50p 1.17%

Imperial Brands (IMB) 2,693.00p 0.94%

Halma (HLMA) 3,602.00p 0.83%

ICG (ICG) 1,811.00p 0.72%

Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 8,090.00p 0.72%

Diploma (DPLM) 6,815.00p 0.59%

Diageo (DGE) 1,518.50p 0.49%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Fresnillo (FRES) 2,510.00p -3.50%

Antofagasta (ANTO) 3,739.00p -2.34%

Pearson (PSON) 1,211.50p -2.11%

Vodafone Group (VOD) 114.80p -1.93%

Melrose Industries (MRO) 457.10p -1.87%

BAE Systems (BA.) 1,827.50p -1.62%

Babcock International Group (BAB) 995.20p -1.61%

Unilever (ULVR) 4,521.50p -1.57%

BT Group (BT.A) 195.55p -1.48%

The Sage Group (SGE) 843.00p -1.48%

FTSE 250 - Risers

XP Power Ltd. (DI) (XPP) 1,920.00p 4.90%

Dr. Martens (DOCS) 73.60p 3.85%

Discoverie Group (DSCV) 663.00p 3.62%

Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 645.00p 3.24%

Kier Group (KIE) 220.00p 2.90%

Energean (ENOG) 749.00p 2.86%

Bellway (BWY) 1,905.00p 2.66%

Wickes Group (WIX) 190.00p 2.59%

Savills (SVS) 922.00p 2.46%

Great Portland Estates (GPE) 336.20p 2.39%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Harworth Group (HWG) 121.80p -3.94%

B&M European Value Retail (BME) 197.00p -2.99%

Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) 702.00p -2.90%

Trainline (TRN) 220.60p -2.86%

Hammerson (HMSO) 371.60p -2.78%

Endeavour Mining (EDV) 3,508.00p -2.78%

WPP (WPP) 267.20p -2.55%

CMC Markets (CMCX) 722.00p -2.43%

Mony Group (MONY) 196.40p -2.39%

Hochschild Mining (HOC) 447.00p -2.30%