Early market roundup: FTSE 100 gets airline boost as oil steadies

London’s blue chip index opened higher on Friday, mirroring its European counterparts, as airlines gained and oil majors slipped on steadier oil prices.

The FTSE 100 index opened up 44.36 points, 0.4%, at 10,107.86. The FTSE 250 was up 134.89 points, 0.6%, at 21,694.93, and the AIM all-share was up 1.27 points, 0.2%, at 729.12.

The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.7% at 1,005.42, the Cboe UK 250 was 0.6% higher at 18,870.92, and the Cboe small companies was up 0.4% at 17,296.52.

In European equities on Friday, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.7%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was 1.2% higher.

Sterling was at $1.3422 on Friday morning, up from $1.3367 at the London equities close on Thursday. Against the euro, sterling rose slightly to €1.1601 from €1.1597.

The euro was higher at $1.1570 from $1.1527. Against the yen, the dollar was higher at JP¥158.47 versus JP¥158.09.

Stocks climbed on Friday after sharp falls on Thursday, as the price of oil steadied after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran was being ‘decimated’ and that the war would end earlier than many feared.

‘This war is ending a lot faster than people think,’ he said without providing a specific timeframe.

Brent oil was trading lower at $108.99 a barrel on Friday morning from $110.46 on Thursday.

FTSE 100 oil majors BP and Shell were down 2.1% and 1.0% respectively.

Airlines climbed as oil fell, with IAG up 3.2% and easyJet was 2.9% higher. Wizz Air climbed 3.8%. InterContinental Hotels led the FTSE 100 and advanced 3.1%.

Swissquote analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya said: ‘A week packed with war headlines and central bank decisions comes to an end with one clear conclusion: the Middle East conflict is intensifying, and no one knows what the right monetary policy response should be.

‘What everyone agrees on is that rising oil and energy prices will push inflation higher in the short to medium term—depending on the duration of the conflict—while weighing on growth. This is a message echoed by the major central banks around the world.’

Both the Bank of England and European Central Bank voted to keep rates on hold on Thursday. The BoE opened the door for rate hikes in future to ‘respond to the risk of a more persistent effect on UK inflation’.

‘We are heading into what will likely be another eventful weekend in the Middle East. Investors are unlikely to add significant risk ahead of that, so the week may end on a cautious note, with only a slim hope that coordinated efforts could ease tensions around the Strait of Hormuz,’ Ozkardeskaya added.

Meanwhile, UK public sector borrowing grew on-year last month to nearly a new record for February.

According to the Office for National Statistics, net borrowing amounted to £14.33 billion in February, widened from £12.13 billion a year prior and swung from a surplus of £31.86 billion in January 2026.

It was the second-highest February borrowing figure since monthly records began in 1993, and was only behind £15.48 billion in 2021, in the midst of the Covid 19 pandemic.

Borrowing in the fiscal year-to-date totalled £125.9 billion, down 8.7% over the same 11-month period a year ago, but still the fourth-highest April to February borrowing on record.

In Asia on Friday, the Shanghai Composite in China was 1.2% lower, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong lost 0.9%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney was 0.8% lower. Financial markets in Japan were closed on Friday.

In the US on Thursday, Wall Street ended lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.4%, the S&P 500 0.3% lower and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.3%.

The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was unchanged at 4.27%. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury widened to 4.86% from 4.84%.

Back in London, Smiths Group fell the most on the FTSE 100 and was down 5.5%, after it reported lower earnings for the first half of its financial year.

The engineering firm said pretax profit fell 17% to £126 million in the six months to the end of January from £152 million a year prior. Revenue edged down 1.0% to £915 million from £924 million.

It raised its interim dividend to 15.00 pence per share, up 5.4% from 14.23p a year prior.

Looking ahead, the firm said it expects organic revenue growth between 3% and 4% in financial 2026, with second half growth within the 5% to 7% target range and an operating profit margin of around 20%.

Unilever was up 1.3% after it confirmed it has received an inbound offer for its Foods business, and has entered talks with McCormick & Co.

McCormick is a Maryland, US-based food ingredients and flavours company.

Unilever said: ‘The board believes Foods is a highly attractive business, with a strong financial profile led by market-leading brands in growing categories and is confident in the future of the Foods business as part of Unilever.’

On the FTSE 250 index, shares in JD Wetherspoon sank 12% as it said that annual profit could fall short of market expectations, as the pub firm grapples with higher costs and warned that there is ‘considerable pressure on consumer finances’.

The Watford, England-based firm said like-for-like sales growth has slowed in recent weeks, though it noted it has continued to outperform the wider hospitality market.

In the half-year ended January 25, pretax profit slumped 37% to £26.0 million from £41.3 million 12 months prior. Revenue, however, climbed 5.7% on-year to £1.09 billion from £1.03 billion.

Operating costs were 7.1% higher at £1.03 billion from £966.5 million.

Like-for-like sales during the period rose 4.8% from a year prior. However, in the seven weeks to March 15, like-for-like growth has eased to 2.6%.

‘There is clearly considerable pressure on consumer finances, combined with higher taxes, wages and energy costs for the hospitality industry. This may result in profits that are slightly below current market expectations. The forecast for year-end net debt remains unchanged,’ said Chair Tim Martin.

Gold was higher at $4,690.90 an ounce early on Friday from $4,603.53 late Thursday.

Still to come on Friday’s economic calendar is eurozone current account and trade balance data.

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