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The FTSE 100 opened lower, falling 63.31 points or 0.6% to 10,537.22, as a sharp rise in oil prices and geopolitical tensions between the US and Iran after failed ceasefire talks weighed on investor sentiment.
The rally in crude oil prices, driven by escalating tensions in the Middle East and the proposed Strait of Hormuz blockade, hit travel-related stocks the hardest. Airline and aviation-linked companies saw sharp declines.
British Airways parent IAG dropped 3% to £378.1, while Rolls-Royce slipped 2% to £1,243.6. Also, Wizz Air plunged 6% to £930.5, easyJet declined 4% to £370.9, and Carnival lost 3% to £2,005.
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Diploma rose 1.67% to £6,700, while Pershing Square Holdings gained 1.77% to £4,520.
Admiral Group advanced 2.15% to £3,327, and Croda International added 2.06% to £2,967.
Among others, Halma climbed 1.27% to £4,216, while energy major Shell rose 1.52% to £3,472, supported by higher crude prices.
On the downside, AstraZeneca declined 0.93% to £15,088, while Next fell 0.52% to £13,350. Spirax Group dropped 0.89% to £7,352, and Antofagasta slipped 1.37% to £3,736 amid commodity volatility.
Also, Associated British Foods fell 2.71% to £1,868, while Weir Group declined 1.61% to £3,048.
Middle East traffic at Heathrow plunged 51% in March, but the airport still grew overall, with Asia/Pacific up 31% and European travel up 11.6%.
The 6.9% increase to 6.6 million followed a 10% spike in transfer passengers as the airport absorbed demand. Middle East traffic plunged 51% to 294,000, but this was offset by a 31% rise in Asia/Pacific passenger numbers and 11.6% rise in Europe travel.
The energy crisis globally increased this weekend after talks for a ceasefire between the US and Iran failed, leading to US President Donald Trump imposing a blockade on the Strait of Hormuz.
Brent crude prices surged 7.1% on Monday, reaching $101.9, with European gas futures increasing by around 18%.
The surge came after Trump instructed the US Navy to begin “blockading any ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz”, with US Central Command confirming the blockade would begin Monday, 10 am Eastern Time.
Around 100 tankers have passed through the strait during the course of the war, paying up to $2 million for passage.
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Thousands of people will miss out on collecting their tax rebates after failing to cash in cheques sent to them by HMRC.
According to the I Paper, the department sent out 1,746,720 cheques last year, but 178,180 were not cashed. The cheques had a combined value of £144 million, meaning taxpayers missed out on roughly £800 each.
In the US, Wall Street futures declined around 0.7% after Friday’s session saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average fall 0.6% and the S&P 500 index dip 0.1%.
In Asia, the Hang Seng index and Nikkei 225 fell 1.2% and 0.8%. In South Korea, the Kospi dipped 0.9% to 5,806.3 points.
India’s Nifty 50 fell 1.2% to 23,762.6 points. The Sensex also dropped 1.4%, with the index down 10.1% this year to date.
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