FTSE 100 Live: Index Declines Amid Elevated Oil Prices and Escalating Tensions In West Asia

The FTSE 100 opened lower with a discount of 80 points to 10,196.14. This comes amid local government elections in the UK and concerns between US-Iran after both sides exchanged fire in the Strait of Hormuz.

Meanwhile, oil prices also weighed on the index as it reclaimed $100. Brent crude futures are up 0.94% to $101 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) gained 0.54% to $95.32 ‌a barrel.

Gainers & Losers

BT Group climbed 2.51% to £227.15, while JD Sports Fashion advanced 2.49% to £74.82 and Vodafone Group gained 0.65% to £116.75.

Also, Centrica edged higher by 0.50% to £199.70, while Rio Tinto added 0.25% to £7,703 and Games Workshop Group rose 0.25% to £19,715.

On the downside, Intertek Group dropped 4.32% to £4,828, while Endeavour Mining declined 1.77% to £4,829 and London Stock Exchange Group slipped 1.74% to £9,026.

Among other laggards, Fresnillo fell 1.42% to £3,611, while Spirax Group eased 0.83% to £7,394 and AstraZeneca edged lower by 0.59% to £13,236.

Intertek Rejects £10 billion Bid

Intertek rejected the bid for the testing company from Swedish private equity firm EQT, saying the £10 billion, £5,800 per share offer undervalued the company. 

Friday’s refusal was the third consecutive rejection, following previous cash offers of £5,150p and £5,400 per share. 

The latest offer was priced at around 54% higher than Intertek’s closing stock price from the day before the first offer was made on 9 April.

Intertek said, “The Board of Intertek has carefully reviewed the further revised proposal with its advisers and unanimously concluded that it significantly undervalues Intertek and its future prospects, and there is significant execution risk given its conditional nature. Accordingly, the Intertek Board unanimously and unequivocally rejected the further revised proposal on 8 May 2026.”

IAG Warns Profits Could Decline 

International Consolidated Airlines Group, the group behind British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus and Vueling, has reported strong Q1 results, with operating profit jumping 77.3% to €351 million. But the Middle East conflict remains a concern for the rest of the year. 

The key problem is fuel; spot prices nearly doubled in a single month earlier this year, and while IAG is 70% hedged and expects to recover the 60% of the impact through cost measures, the remaining will weigh on full-year profits. 

The group now expects its annual fuel bill to reach €9 billion. Around 3% of IAG's network was linked to Gulf routes before the conflict. Net debt fell sharply to €4.18 billion.

Also Read: Stock Market Today: Sensex Falls 420 Points, Nifty50 Slips Below 24,200

Local Elections 

Labour Party suffered significant losses in Friday’s local elections, with Keir Starmer’s party haemorrhaging support across traditional strongholds in central and northern England just two years after its national landslide. The key beneficiary was Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, which captured over 300 council seats and is poised to become a major opposition force in Scotland and Wales.

Global Market View

In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.6%, the S&P 500 slipped 0.4%, while the Nasdaq edged down 0.1%.

In Asia, markets were mostly weaker in the morning, with Tokyo's Nikkei down 0.3%, the Hang Seng losing 1.1%, and the Shanghai Composite slipping 0.1%. Seoul's Kospi has changed marginally, but Sydney's ASX 200 closed 1.5% in the red. India’s Nifty 50 declined 0.53%, while the Sensex fell 0.58%.