Early market roundup: FTSE 100 underperforms peers; eyes on MidEast

London’s blue chip index was beaten by its peers in Paris and Frankfurt on Tuesday morning as the price of Brent oil traded lower, after US President Donald Trump urged Israel and Iran to stop ‘shooting’.

The FTSE 100 index opened down 47.49 points, 0.5%, at 10,325.71. The FTSE 250 was up 46.89 points, 0.2%, at 23,060.32, and the AIM all-share was down 2.02 points, 0.3%, at 791.57.

The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.4% at 1,026.46, the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.1% at 19,863.32, and the Cboe small companies was down 0.4% at 18,677.49.

In European equities on Tuesday, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.5%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was slightly lower.

Sterling was at $1.3372 on Tuesday morning, up from $1.3339 at the London equities close on Monday. Against the euro, sterling rose to €1.1581 from €1.1561.

The euro was a little higher at $1.1541 from $1.1539. Against the yen, the dollar edged up to JP¥160.17 from JP¥160.12.

US President Donald Trump said that negotiators were in the ‘final throes’ of talks for a peace deal in the Middle East, after Iran and Israel halted fresh hostilities that threatened to reignite the months-long war.

Trump has repeatedly said that a peace agreement with Tehran is imminent, but diplomacy has stalled and the two sides have traded fire despite a ceasefire in place since April 8.

Trump, who has reportedly grown increasingly exasperated with Netanyahu, had earlier urged both sides to stop ‘shooting’ and said that ‘final negotiations’ towards peace would proceed ‘subject to ignorance or stupidity getting in its way’.

Iran and Israel ‘were going back and forth and now they both agreed through me to stop and we’re in the final throes of what will be a very, very good deal,’ the US leader told reporters on his return from an NBA Finals game.

Asked whether it would be matter of days or weeks, he said it would take ‘two or three days’.

In response, Brent crude was trading lower at $92.91 a barrel on Tuesday morning from $94.75 on Monday.

In Asia on Tuesday, the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo was up 2.2%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was 1.3% higher, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong fell 0.3%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed 0.2% lower.

In the US on Monday, Wall Street ended mixed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.2%, while the S&P 500 edged up 0.3% while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.9%.

The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 4.55%, narrowed slightly from 4.56%. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury widened a little to 5.03% from 5.02%.

Back in London, GSK shares were down 3.1%, the most on the FTSE 100, after it agreed its largest acquisition in over a decade.

The London-based pharmaceutical firm said it has agreed to buy oncology-focused biopharmaceutical company Nuvalent for $10.6 billion.

The acquisition includes three products in lung cancer, GSK noted. Zidesamtinib and neladalkib are two late-stage, potential best-in-class drugs for the treatment of lung cancer.

Both received US Food & Drug Administration breakthrough therapy and orphan drug designations. Subject to FDA approval, they are expected to launch in 2026 with ‘multi-blockbuster potential’.

GSK said the deal to buy the Boston, Massachusetts-based firm is ‘consistent’ with its strategy of ‘acquiring assets that have validated targets and meaningfully address efficacy and/or tolerability limitations of existing standard-of-care therapies’.

GSK will start a tender offer to acquire all of Nuvalent’s outstanding shares at $124 per share in cash within 10 business days.

Net of cash acquired, GSK’s aggregate investment is estimated to be $9.4 billion. The price is a 40% premium to Nuvalent’s last closing price.

Bunzl shares climbed 2.7% and led the FTSE 100 after Exane BNP raised its rating on the stock to ’outperform’ from ’neutral’.

The price target was increased to 3,000 pence from 2,450p.

On the FTSE 250 index, shares in Molten Ventures surged 9.4%.

The technology-focused venture capital firm said its holding value in ICEYE will increase to £317 million, representing an uplift of £238 million from the holding value at the end of March.

This comes after ICEYE, a provider of sovereign intelligence from space, raised around €450 million in a primary Series F funding round.

Molten Ventures said the uplift would increase its gross portfolio value by around 16% and its net asset value by approximately 117 pence, to 877p from 760p.

Separately, Molten Ventures said in its full-year results that NAV per share rose to 760p at the end of March from 671p a year earlier.

Chief Executive Officer Ben Wilkinson said: ‘We also continue to see compelling opportunities in areas such as AI infrastructure, space and dual-use technologies. The opportunity to build Molten into the leading platform for European venture capital has never been clearer, and we enter [financial 2027] with a well-positioned portfolio, growing momentum across our fundraising initiatives and confidence in the path ahead.’

On the AIM market, shares in Silver Bullet Data Services Group sank 68%.

The London-based marketing services provider said it will seek shareholder approval to delist from the AIM market.

The company said the recent downturn in financial markets has hit its share price and ‘does not reflect the fundamental value of the company’.

‘The board believes this is unlikely to change in the short-to-medium term and as a private company it can achieve a fairer value and a larger quantum of future funding for continued growth and profitability,’ said Chief Executive Officer Ian James.

The general meeting to vote on the proposal will be held on June 25.

Shares in LBG Media fell 23% as it cut its full-year guidance after reporting lower interim profit.

The Manchester, England-based digital entertainment company said pretax profit for the six months to the end of March fell to £1.8 million from £8.6 million. Revenue grew 19% to £52.4 million from £43.9 million, but net operating expenses jumped to £50.4 million from £35.6 million.

LBG Media said the trends in its Indirect arm have not stabilised as quickly as it expected.

It now expects financial 2026 revenue between £100 million and £107 million, down from previous guidance of £110 million.

It lowered the adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation to between £15 million and £20 million from £22 million.

‘Our 2026 financial year is a year of transition, towards long-term value. While our strategy to drive repeatable revenue growth is making good progress - with our Direct revenue streams almost doubling in 1H26 - our Indirect business was hit harder than expected,’ said Chief Executive Officer Solly Solomou.

Gold was lower at $4,326.61 an ounce early on Tuesday from $4,330.27 late Monday.

Still to come on Tuesday’s economic calendar are trade figures from the US and Canada, along with US existing home sales and wholesale inventories data.

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