London pre-open: Stocks to fall, oil rises as US-Iran tensions escalate

(Sharecast News) - London stocks were set to fall at the open on Monday as oil prices rose amid escalating tensions between the US and Iran, as the US insisted the Strait of Hormuz was open, despite Tehran claiming it had closed the vital waterway.

The FTSE 100 was called to open around 30 points lower. At 0720 BST, Brent crude was up 4.4% at $79.38 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate was 4.6% higher at $74.71.

Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote, said: "The weekend was anything but calm in the Middle East. The US continued its attacks on Iran, while Iran retaliated by attacking Gulf countries. The US says the Strait of Hormuz remains open to traffic, whereas Iran insists it is closed. That uncertainty is pushing oil prices higher this Monday.

"Higher oil prices, in turn, are fuelling global inflation expectations and pushing bond yields higher. The US two-year Treasury yield, which best reflects expectations for Federal Reserve policy, climbed to its highest level since February 2025, while the Japanese 10-year yield recovered Friday's losses after Katayama called on the country's pension funds to invest more heavily in domestic assets. Remember - that's the horror movie scenario for global markets.

"Higher bond yields are weighing on risk appetite. The Kospi is down more than 7%, while the Nikkei has fallen more than 3% in Tokyo. European and US equity futures are also trading lower."

In corporate news, recruiter PageGroup held annual guidance after a rise in second-quarter gross profit driven by a strong performance in the Americas, offsetting weaker trading in France, Northern Europe and the UK, although it warned of "a high degree of uncertainty in the outlook for the rest of the year".

Gross profit rose 1.3% to �197.6m. The company still expects full-year operating profit of �28m based on its own compiled consensus of analyst forecasts.

Rank Group said it has appointed Richard Harris as chief executive officer with immediate effect.

Harris, who has been serving as interim CEO since 30 January 2026, joined the board as chief financial officer in May 2022. Rank said he has "extensive knowledge of the business, a track record of driving business performance and the strategic leadership required to maximise shareholder returns".

Prior to Rank, he held senior leadership roles in a number of consumer facing businesses, including Marks & Spencer, Foxtons and Laird.

Fintech group Plus500 reported a record first half, with customer income and revenues both rising sharply yearonyear, and the firm reconfirming fullyear revenue and underlying earnings guidance after several upgrades to market expectations earlier in 2026.

Revenue rose 12% to $462.9m, a threeyear high, supported by broadbased strength across business lines and heightened market volatility, which Plus500 said its proprietary trading platforms were well positioned to capture, while EBITDA edged 1% higher to $187.5m, giving a margin of 41%.

GSK said a treatment for rectal cancer it is developing has shown positive results in interim testing.

Jemperli, the brand name of immunotherapy drug dostarlimab, met its primary objective in interim analysis, GSK said, with a clinically significant rate of participants showing no detectable signs of cancer a year or more after treatment.

The data will now be shared with health authorities for regulatory review, including an accelerated review in the US.