FTSE 100 Live: Index Opens Lower at 10,443 as Job Vacancies Drop and Oil Prices Slip Over 1%

The FTSE 100 opened around 60 points lower at 10,430.5 as a decline in oil prices weighed on energy shares, while stronger-than-expected wage growth and a fall in unemployment strengthened expectations about cautious interest-rate cuts by the Bank of England. Brent crude futures fell 1.57% to $78.30 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) declined 1.88% to $75.35 ‌a barrel.

Gainers & Losers

Melrose Industries surged 2.34% to £484.90, while Polar Capital Technology Trust advanced 2.03% to £729. Informa climbed 1.71% to £854.80, and Rolls-Royce Holdings moved higher, gaining 1.08% to £1,405. Lion Finance Group also rose 0.97% to £11,460, while Halma added 0.93% to £3,910.

On the downside, 3i Group declined 3.65% to £2,219, while London Stock Exchange Group tumbled 3.37% to £8,664. Fresnillo dropped 2.60% to £3,224, and Endeavour Mining fell 2.12% to £4,340. Rio Tinto shed 1.85% to £7,679 and Games Workshop Group eased 1.08% to £20,220.

Job Vacancies Dropped 

The Office for National Statistics said the number of job vacancies fell by 19,000 between March and May.  The unemployment rate dropped to 4.9% compared to 5% last month, lower than markets predicted. 

The ONS revealed that wage growth was 3.4%, which was higher than expected. Including bonuses, wage growth was higher than predicted at 4.4%.

Tesco Fuel Sales Rose 20%

Tesco revealed around a 20% boost in fuel sales as the Iran war sends petrol prices higher, driving revenue. 

The supermarket saw fuel sales jump by 19.5% to £1.7 billion in the three months to May, while sales excluding fuel gained 2% to £12.6 billion. 

Tesco, which operates about 600 petrol stations, saw fuel sales boom at the start of this year after declining revenue from this arm of the business in recent years. 

Fuel revenue dipped by 6% to £5.87 billion in the year to February, which the supermarket attributed to lower prices.

Informa Reschedules Conferences

Live events business Informa has been forced to reschedule 15 conferences due to the Iran war. 

The business said the events, which account for around 10% of its B2B portfolio, had been rescheduled within 2026 while several new event launches, including the Interior Security conference, had been delayed to 2027. 

Despite the setback, Informa signalled stronger growth in 2027 and reaffirmed full-year earnings guidance after reporting 6.4% revenue growth in the first five months of 2026.

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Global Market View

In the US, Nasdaq led the losses, falling 1.3%, with the S&P 500 dropping 1.2% and the Dow Jones 1%. The Magnificent Seven tech giants fell nearly 3% and SpaceX also had its first down day, losing almost 5%.

In Asia, South Korea’s Kospi jumped 2.25% to 9,063.84 points, while Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 increased 1.65%. Taiwan’s TAIEX rose 1.28%. China’s Shanghai Composite dropped 0.43% and Hang Seng fell 2.19%. In India, both the Nifty 50 and Sensex reported gains, rising around 0.16% respectively.