London open: Stocks gain amid hopes of Hormuz reopening; Next surges

(Sharecast News) - London stocks rose in early trade on Wednesday amid hopes of a US-Iran agreement to reopen the vital Strait of Hormuz, with Next the star performer after the retailer lifted guidance again.

At 0845 BST, the FTSE 100 was 0.3% firmer at 10,913.09, while Brent crude was up 1.3% at $80.35 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate was 0.6% higher at $76.20, having fallen earlier after Axios reported that the US was nearing a 60-day interim deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz without tolls.

According to Axios, citing two regional sources and a US official, the US is aiming to make an announcement on Wednesday.

It was understood the deal under discussion sets up a temporary arrangement between Oman and Iran in the Hormuz strait, which could be extended. According to Axios, all inbound traffic of ships through the strait and into the Gulf would go in a northern lane through Iranian waters.

All outbound traffic through the strait and into the Arabian Sea would go in a southern lane through Omani waters, in coordination with Iran. No tolls or fees would be charged during the 60-day period and the parties would work on clearing naval mines from the median lane of the strait within 30 days.

Once that's cleared, it would be used for inbound and outbound traffic under the terms of a permanent arrangement to be negotiated between Oman and Iran.

In equity markets, retailer Next surged to the top of the FTSE 100 as it lifted profit guidance for the second time this year after second-quarter full-price sales smashed estimates due to the hotter summer and the release of pentup demand in the Middle East and Northern Europe.

The retailer said it now expects pretax profit of �1.24bn for 2026/27, an increase of �25m from its prior forecast. The latest increase reflects the benefit of �70m in additional fullprice sales during Q2, which added �15m of profit, alongside a �10m uplift from strongerthanexpected returns on its equity investments.

Heavily-weighted miners were among the standout performers, with Fresnillo, Glencore, Antofagasta, Anglo American and Rio Tinto all higher. Glencore was also boosted by its half-year results, as it posted a rise in earnings, mainly thanks to firmer commodity prices.

Hiscox advanced as the insurer reported an increase in first-half contract written premiums and upped its guidance for 2026 constant currency growth in the retail segment to 9%.

4Imprint also gained after half-year results, while Legal & General nudged up as it reported a jump in first-half core operating profit, highlighting a strong performance in asset management and said full-year earnings per share growth would be above guidance.