FTSE 100 Live: Index Drops 34 Points as Brent Crude Hits $90 on Middle East Tensions

The FTSE 100 opened 34.07 points lower at 10,566.30 amid continued US airstrikes against Iran and expanding Iranian retaliation across the Gulf region, deepening a risk-off sentiment. Meanwhile, Brent crude futures rose 2.62% to $90.41 per barrel. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) advanced 2.39% to $84.36 ‌per barrel.

Sterling was quoted at $1.3452 early Monday, lower than $1.3455 at the London equities close in the previous session. 

Gainers & Losers 

On the upside, Computacenter rose 3.49% to £4,740, while Entain advanced 1.61% to £567.80. Auto Trader Group gained 0.94% to £503, and BP climbed 0.81% to £521.30. JD Sports Fashion added 0.76% to £87.60, while Convatec Group advanced 0.74% to £218.40.

On the downside, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners declined 1.02% to £7,795, while Spirax Group slipped 1.15% to £6,880. Unilever fell 1.40% to £4,607.50, and Reckitt Benckiser edged lower by 1.14% to £5,028. Rio Tinto dropped 0.83% to £6,670, while Next eased 0.37% to £14,820.

Andy Burnham to Become UK Prime Minister

Andy Burnham, the former mayor of Greater Manchester and new leader of the Labour Party, is taking the final steps on Monday to succeed Keir Starmer and become Britain’s seventh prime minister in the last 10 years. 

Burnham returned to Parliament in June by winning a special election and was sworn in as a member on July 12, hours after Starmer announced his resignation to end a tenure of just two years in office. 

Starmer will travel from Downing Street to Buckingham Palace to formally inform King Charles III of his resignation. 

Ryanair Profit Tumbles

Ryanair shed more than a third of its profit as rising jet fuel prices caused by the war in Iran began to take effect. Ryanair said the cost of the 20% of its jet fuel that it had not hedged more than doubled in the first quarter of this year, to $150 per barrel. 

As a result, the operating costs jumped 11% to €3.8 billion in the three months to June and its pre-tax profit slumped by 36% to €593 million. 

Traffic jumped 6% in the first quarter of this year, but lower fares meant the airline’s revenue slipped by 1% to €4.3 billion in the period.

Craneware Hit by Cyberattack

Craneware shares tumbled as much as 8% in early trade after the healthcare firm revealed it had been hit by a cyberattack. The company said the incident involved “unauthorized access to a subset of its data environment”. 

Early investigations suggest “a significant volume of file names were viewed and exfiltrated”. Employee data as well as a subset of customer and partner records have been accessed and exfiltrated, Craneware said. 

“Regulators [have previously] punished the later downplaying of the breach as much as the breach itself, so consistency between today’s reassuring wording and the next update is what matters,” analysts at Panmure Liberum said.

Also Read: Stock Market Outlook: Nifty 50 Opens 0.59% Lower, Sensex Falls 350 points Amid Rising Crude Oil Prices

Big Yellow Increases Investment in Automation

Big Yellow has hiked its investment into automation and energy as it looks to cut its headcount and slash staff costs. 

It admitted that the investment allows it to “not replace certain leavers in the business”, as the rise in national insurance contributions and the minimum wage continues to hurt UK businesses. 

Jim Gibson, chief executive officer, said he expects the group’s operating environment to remain challenging until the autumn, when “fiscal and budgetary uncertainties” will be clarified. Despite headwinds, group revenue ticked up three per cent to £53.2 million, up from £51.5 million in the prior year.

Global Market View

In the US, futures were mixed early on Monday as escalating tensions in the Middle East dented investor sentiment. S&P 500 futures traded up 0.04%, while Nasdaq-100 futures traded 0.14% higher. Futures linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 59 points, or 0.11%.

In Asia on Thursday, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 fell 4.03% to 64,141.12, while China’s Shanghai Composite dipped 0.85%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced 2.25%, and South Korea’s Kospi fell 4.46%. In India, both the Nifty 50 and the Sensex fell by 0.42% and 0.53%, respectively.