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The FTSE 100 opened 5.60 points lower at 10,750.85 as investors monitor fresh tensions between the US and Iran, while digesting new US trade measures. Brent crude futures fell 1.29% to USD 94.40 per barrel. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) declined 1.13% to USD 89.98 per barrel.
Sterling stood at USD 1.3494 early Thursday, lower than USD 1.3505 at the London equities close on Wednesday. Against the euro, sterling fell to EUR 1.1633 from EUR 1.1648 a day prior.
On the upside, Airtel Africa climbed 3.16% to 352.40p. Vodafone Group advanced 2.22% to 122.05p, while Metlen Energy & Metals gained 1.50% to EUR 47.32. BT Group rose 1.08% to 206.10p, London Stock Exchange Group added 1.05% to 8,658p, and Associated British Foods increased 1.03% to 2,052p.
On the downside, Admiral Group fell 2.14% to 3,850p. Bunzl declined 1.47% to 2,674p, while Croda International dropped 1.10% to 3,315p. Reckitt Benckiser Group slipped 0.73% to 5,188p, Next lost 0.66% to 15,075p, and Coca-Cola Europacific Partners edged 0.56% lower to 7,975p.
Shares in EnQuest fell after the oil producer narrowed its annual production forecast toward the lower end of its previous range, citing a five-week outage at its Magnus field caused by a third-party infrastructure disruption.
EnQuest now expects 2026 production of 41,000 to 43,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, narrowed from a prior range of 41,000 to 45,000 boepd. The company’s shares fell more than 4% in early trading.
Hilton, UK’s biggest meatpacker, has upgraded its profit forecast after offloading its unprofitable vegan arm. The company now expects to make a pre-tax profit of between GBP 66 million and 71 million, a 10% uplift from its previous forecast range.
That comes after the firm sold its Dutch vegan and vegetarian manufacturing business, Dalco, for GBP 5.4 million in July. Hilton said the profit rise “reflects the removal of Dalco losses and favourable year-on-year foreign currency movements.” The firm posted revenue of GBP 2.3 billion for the first half of the year, a jump of 15% compared with last year.
Asset manager M&G witnessed losses driven by the Labour government’s introduction of a cap on existing ground rents. The group hit out at the government after it reported a GBP 165 million loss for the first six months of the year following a GBP 325m write-down from the cap.
Labour introduced a GBP 250 annual cap on pre-existing ground rents, which refer to annual fees paid by current leaseholders to a freeholder for the land beneath an older property.
M&G’s shareholder fund holds approximately GBP 722 million in UK ground rent assets, which generate long-term income streams to pay future customer pensions.
In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 295 points, or 0.56%, to 53,061.95. The S&P 500 gained 0.46% to 7,666.60 and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.45% to 26,217.83.
In Asia on Thursday, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 fell 0.09% to 64,269.48, while China’s Shanghai Composite gained 0.24%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declined 0.40%, and South Korea’s Kospi advanced 0.29%. In India, both the Nifty 50 and the Sensex rose by 0.18% and 0.12%, respectively.
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