The FTSE 100 opened 111 points lower at 10,159 amid a decline in the banking stocks, mixed global cues and elevated oil prices. Brent crude futures rose 2.14% to $106.4 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) gained 2.65% to $100.7 a barrel.
Intertek Group surged 5.32% to £5,245, while British American Tobacco advanced 1.64% to £4,451 and BP gained 1.50% to £547.10.
Among other gainers, IMI rose 1.38% to £2,796, while Shell added 1.28% to £3,167.50 and Imperial Brands edged higher by 1.21% to £2,761.
On the downside, 3i Group dropped 3.02% to £2,440, while Lion Finance Group declined 2.95% to £10,540 and Pershing Square Holdings slipped 2.02% to £4,084.
Among other laggards, Next fell 0.89% to £12,750, while AstraZeneca eased 0.86% to £13,386 and Games Workshop Group edged lower by 0.62% to £19,290.
Barclays shed over 4% to £410.65 in early trade. Natwest was not far behind, also losing over 4% to hit £556.60. Meanwhile, Lloyds fell just shy of 4% to %94.42.
Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG, said, “There has been an unseemly rush to the exit in UK banks as investors worry that a change of PM will bring it a leader from the ‘soft left’ committed to finding new and inventive ways to boost the tax take, with banks firmly in their sights”.
“Much of the bounce in UK stocks has been based on the idea that the Labour government’s victory in 2024 brought with it a group of sensible politicians committed to fixing the country. That is poised to be blown apart as a leadership context hoves into view, and higher public spending despite the parlous financial situation becomes a very real possibility.”
The telecom giant's annual revenue of €40.4bn (£35 billion) increased 8%. It comes as the firm is doubling down on the UK market after its £4.3 billion deal to buy out CK Hutchison’s stake in VodafoneThree, giving it full control of Britain’s largest mobile operator as it pushes ahead with a major 5G and broadband expansion.
Shareholder returns surged with a 2.5% rise in the total dividend per share, taking it to 4.6 eurocents.
Chief executive Margherita Della Valle said: “We are building momentum across the Group as our transformation programme continues to improve customer experience, simplify operations and strengthen execution”.
On the Beach reinstated its full-year adjusted pretax profit forecast at £18 million-£25 million, well below analyst estimates of £38.5 million-£42 million, after the Iran war triggered a sharp pullback in bookings.
Imperial Brands warned the Iran war could hurt input costs and consumer demand if the conflict persists, even as it reiterated its full-year outlook, with first-half adjusted operating profit of £1.64 billion narrowly missing expectations.
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In US, stocks closed with modest gains, the Dow Jones and S&P 500 adding 0.2% and the Nasdaq inching 0.1% higher.
In Asia, South Korea’s Kospi tumbled 3% to 7,568.3 points. Japan’s Nikkei 225 saw a slight gain of 0.3%, while Taiwan’s TAIEX inched up 0.2% to 41,898.3 points. In China, the CSI 300 fell 0.2% and the Shanghai Composite also dropped 0.4%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost morning gains to dip 0.02%. In India, both the Sensex and the Nifty 50 fell into the red, dropping 1% and 0.92%, respectively.
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