London’s blue-chip index is down -0.4% in early Wednesday trade, dragged lower alongside European peers, with the Stoxx 600 off -0.3%.
As the fragile US-Iran ceasefire frays further, a fresh round of strikes between the two sides has impacted risk sentiment across markets.
Renewed Tensions
Reports state the US and Iran have exchanged renewed fire as tensions rise over stalled peace talks. It’s a deterioration from Tuesday’s already-confused picture…
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The US military is said to have launched “self-defence” strikes on Iran overnight, and shot down ballistic missiles and drones fired at ships and Gulf countries, while Iran said it attacked US bases and helicopters in a “regional country.”
Brent crude has risen a further 2.4% to above $98 a barrel, its third straight day of gains.
The oil industry, the FT warns separately, faces a “gruesome” demand shock from the Iran crisis, with prospects for a rapid reopening of the strait looking bleak.
Shipping traffic is feeling it too, with Greek tycoon Evangelos Marinakis saying he’d rather pay $200,000 transit fees to cross the strait than deal with “this hassle”.
BP in the spotlight
BP is one of the main UK stories this morning. The oil major reportedly held talks with Ithaca about selling £2 billion of UK North Sea assets and remains in active discussions.
The news adds to a turbulent week for the company, which revealed the sacking of chairman Albert Manifold and the departure of green energy chief William Lin.
Elsewhere in London, discount retailer B&M has seen its share price surge despite a significant decline in FY26 profit.
Debenhams Group (Boohoo Group) also saw a jump in its shares after saying in a Q1 update that its “return to growth has been supported by materially improved profitability and significantly improved cashflows.”
US desk
Wall Street is pausing for breath, with S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures both little changed.
Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon says he sees “more greed than fear” on Wall Street, but bond yields are advancing as crude prices stoke fresh inflation concerns, a dynamic that may test that confidence.
The ECB confirmed that gold has overtaken US Treasuries as the world’s top reserve asset, reflecting a shift in how far faith in dollar-denominated assets has declined.
Macy’s and Medtronic are scheduled to report before the open, while Broadcom, CrowdStrike and Five Below are set to report their latest quarterly results after the close.
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