Tuesday Morning Markets: FTSE Slides as US-Iran Strikes Dent Sentiment

London shares are lower on Tuesday morning, with the FTSE 100 down 0.4% and the more domestically-focused FTSE 250 off 1.1%, as investors weighed a fresh US-Iran military clash against a renewed global bond selloff.

In Europe, the DAX fell 0.4% and the Stoxx 50 dipped 0.1%, while the CAC 40 bucked the trend, up 0.4%.

Brent crude jumped 3.9% to $91.84 and WTI rose 1.6% to $87.09 after US and Iranian forces exchanged fire near the Strait of Hormuz for the first time in a month, with President Trump threatening further strikes.

Gold has fallen 0.8% to $4,414 and silver has eased 0.3% to $66.36.

Corporate action dominates the tape, with private equity group Epiris agreed a £1,015m recommended cash offer for Gamma Communications at 1,120p a share, while Veritas Capital struck a 940p-a-share deal for engineering group Bodycote, though rival suitor CVC has now said it’s “considering its position,” teeing up a possible bidding war.

Norway’s DNO agreed to buy Capricorn Energy for $5.214 a share, trumping Genel’s earlier offer.

Elsewhere, Bunzl lifted its 2026 outlook and unveiled a £500m buyback after a strong first half, Frasers Group signalled intent to push its Hugo Boss stake above 50%, and Vodafone brought in Société Générale as a new partner in its German fibre venture OXG.

On the risers board, Reckitt Benckiser leads the FTSE 100, up 4.99% after it was reported that a jury ​favoured the ⁠company in its bellwether trial on claims that formula for premature babies is linked to a deadly bowel disease.

JPMorgan also upgraded the stock to “Buy” and lifted its price target.

BP gained 3.34% on the oil price spike, while Entain rose 2.77%. Fallers include Endeavour Mining (-5.0%), ICG (-4.25%) and Rolls-Royce (-3.84%).

In the FTSE 250, Bodycote jumped 4.27% on its takeover approach, alongside Drax (+3.61%) and Hunting (+2.69%). Ceres Power (-7.13%), Oxford Biomedica (-5.53%) and Oxford Nanopore (-5.17%) lead the fallers.

Separately, Nationwide reported UK annual house price growth steady at 1.6% in August, with the lender flagging that Middle East-driven energy costs are complicating the Bank of England’s rate path.