London open: FTSE gains amid Middle East de-escalation hopes

(Sharecast News) - London stocks rose in early trade on Tuesday as investors mulled the latest UK GDP and a report that Donald Trump could be willing to end the war with Iran even without a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

At 0855 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 0.5% at 10,178.82. Brent crude was 0.4% higher at $113.28 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate was up 0.3% at $103.15.

Sentiment was lifted by a Wall Street Journal report suggesting the US president told aides he was willing to end the military campaign against Iran even if the Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed. The WSJ, citing administration officials, said that in recent days, Trump and his aides assessed that a mission to pry open the chokepoint would push the conflict beyond his timeline of four to six weeks.

The WSJ said Trump decided the US should achieve its main goals of hobbling Iran's navy and its missile stocks and wind down current hostilities while pressuring Tehran diplomatically to resume the free flow of trade.

If that fails, Washington would press allies in Europe and the Gulf to take the lead on reopening the strait, officials told the WSJ.

Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist at Wealth Club, said: "A fresh dose of Trump talk appears to have helped calm energy prices, with reports the US President intends to end the war in the Middle East even if a key oil chokepoint remains controlled by Iran.

"Brent crude, the international benchmark, has dropped to $107 a barrel, but even at this level it remains painfully high for economies to deal with."

Nevertheless, Streeter warned that reading too much into Trump's latest comments may be unwise.

"He appears to be driven by a desire to calm market tension and bring down energy prices as the mid-term election campaign looms," she said.

"Trading is set to stay volatile amid conflicting signals, indicating that this is a complex conflict which will be difficult to resolve. Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu has his own agenda and has suggested the military aims are only halfway to being achieved, and it's likely to be hard going forward."

On home shores, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed the economy grew by 0.1% in the last three months of 2025, in line with consensus.

While production saw a 1.2% increase in output, the construction sector had a particularly weak quarter, with output decreasing 2.0%. The normally dominant services sector also struggled, showing no growth over the fourth quarter.

The 0.1% rate was unchanged on the third quarter's growth.

Over the year, GDP is estimated to have grown by 1.4%, revised upwards from the ONS's earlier estimate of 1.3%.

The latest house price index from Nationwide was also in focus, as it showed house prices picked up in March as the market regained momentum following a sluggish end to 2025.

In equity markets, LSEG, Rightmove, Pearson and Experian were all higher after US software stocks seen to be at risk from AI disruption rallied on Monday.

Lloyds and Close Brothers were both in the black as investors got their first chance to react to the Financial Conduct Authority's final compensation ruling on the motor financing mis-selling scandal, which was released after the close of markets on Monday.

The financial watchdog said that 12.1 million agreements made between 2007 and 2024 are now eligible for compensation. This is down from 14.2m announced in October, but the average payout has increased from �695 to �830.

The FCA estimated that 75% of eligible consumers will make a claim, which would take the total redress paid to �7.5bn.

Both Lloyds and Close Brothers issued statements saying they were still assessing the implications of the ruling.

Unilever gained as it said talks to sell most of its food business to US-based McCormick are now advanced and a deal could be announced later in the day.

Ashmore rallied as it said Japan Post Insurance plans to invest $1bn into a range of the company's managed emerging market funds, in addition to its assets currently under management by the firm.

Raspberry Pi surged as it posted a higher-than-expected jump in annual earnings and sales, boosted by strong demand for its single board computers and favourable unit economics during the second half of the year.

AG Barr fizzed higher after the Irn-Bru maker reported a 12.5% rise in full-year adjusted pre-tax profit as revenue was boosted by a solid performance from its core brands.

Hilton Foods and Pets at Home also ticked higher after results and a pre-close statement, respectively.

Media group Future tumbled as it warned that second-half organic revenue was now set to decline year-on-year by a low single-digit percentage.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 10,178.82 0.50%

FTSE 250 (MCX) 21,095.49 0.67%

techMARK (TASX) 5,634.10 0.73%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Antofagasta (ANTO) 3,255.00p 2.75%

London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) 8,822.00p 2.37%

3i Group (III) 2,387.00p 2.01%

JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 69.56p 1.94%

Rightmove (RMV) 426.50p 1.94%

Tesco (TSCO) 474.80p 1.93%

Barratt Redrow (BTRW) 261.50p 1.87%

Anglo American (AAL) 3,156.00p 1.75%

Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,883.00p 1.60%

Kingfisher (KGF) 282.50p 1.58%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Airtel Africa (AAF) 341.00p -2.47%

Smurfit Westrock (DI) (SWR) 2,935.00p -1.48%

Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 1,102.50p -0.68%

CRH (CDI) (CRH) 7,748.00p -0.33%

Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,071.50p -0.28%

BP (BP.) 600.30p -0.25%

Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 7,620.00p -0.18%

Shell (SHEL) 3,547.50p -0.11%

Informa (INF) 745.60p -0.08%

Beazley (BEZ) 1,268.00p -0.08%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Raspberry PI Holdings (RPI) 357.80p 20.53%

Barr (A.G.) (BAG) 675.00p 9.24%

Pets at Home Group (PETS) 185.50p 3.98%

Pantheon Infrastructure (PINT) 109.50p 3.79%

Dr. Martens (DOCS) 64.95p 3.59%

Hilton Food Group (HFG) 507.00p 3.36%

GB Group (GBG) 198.80p 3.11%

Ashoka India Equity Investment Trust (AIE) 223.50p 3.00%

Ashmore Group (ASHM) 204.60p 2.98%

Close Brothers Group (CBG) 395.20p 2.94%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Ceres Power Holdings (CWR) 298.20p -2.62%

Ithaca Energy (ITH) 248.00p -2.55%

Pacific Horizon Inv Trust (PHI) 848.00p -1.62%

Templeton Emerging Markets Inv Trust (TEM) 243.50p -1.62%

JPMorgan Japanese Inv Trust (JFJ) 693.00p -1.57%

Carnival (CCL) 1,831.50p -1.43%

Harbour Energy (HBR) 295.00p -1.40%

Kier Group (KIE) 190.80p -1.34%

NB Private Equity Partners Ltd. (NBPE) 1,286.00p -1.23%

Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) 568.50p -1.21%