Early market roundup: Shares higher; Vesuvius jumps as mulls proposal

Stock prices in London were higher on Tuesday morning as oil prices eased somewhat amid signs of progress toward renewed talks between the US and Iran; meanwhile pharmaceutical and mining stocks performed well.

The FTSE 100 index opened up 42.14 points, 0.4%, at 10,727.02. The FTSE 250 was up 77.69 points, 0.3%, at 24,413.01, and the AIM all-share was up 1.05 points, 0.1%, at 784.41.

The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.2% at 1,066.19, the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.2% at 21,250.38, and the Cboe small companies was up 0.4% at 19,081.96.

In European equities on Tuesday, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.1%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was up 0.4%.

Brent oil was quoted at USD106.16 a barrel early in London on Tuesday, lower than USD107.60 late Monday.

Oil prices eased as mediators sought to bring the US and Iran back to the negotiating table.

US President Donald Trump is willing to consider sanctions relief and the release of frozen Iranian funds as part of a final agreement, but only if Tehran makes "concrete progress" on its nuclear programme, a US official told CNN on Monday.

The official described discussions through mediators as "positive and constructive", but said there would be no agreement without progress on nuclear issues.

Trump on Saturday rejected Iran's latest proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, calling it "unacceptable", but told Axios on Sunday that he expected further talks with Iran this week.

The US official said special envoy Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio were leading negotiations on the US side. Trump separately said on Truth Social on Monday that he had "offered them NOTHING!"

The pound was quoted at USD1.3233 early Tuesday, lower than USD1.3256 at the London equities close on Monday. Against the euro, sterling rose to EUR1.1663 from EUR1.1658 a day prior.

The euro traded at USD1.1348 early Tuesday, lower than USD1.1370 late Monday. Against the yen, the dollar was quoted at JPY157.31 versus JPY157.44.

On the FTSE 100, pharmaceutical companies were among the strongest performers, with GSK up 2.3% and AstraZeneca rising 2.2%. Halma gained 2.0%.

Miners also reversed some of Monday's losses. Antofagasta rose 2.2%, Anglo American gained 1.9%, and Glencore was up 1.5%.

The Cambridge, England-based pharmaceutical firm said it has submitted a new drug application to the US Food & Drug Administration for Orpathys, or savolitinib, in combination with Tagrisso for certain patients with locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer.

AstraZeneca and Hutchmed China are jointly developing Orpathys, and AstraZeneca will commercialise it. Hutchmed China shares were up 2.9% in London.

The application is supported by the global phase III Saffron trial, in which the combination demonstrated statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvements in progression-free and overall survival compared with doublet platinum-based chemotherapy.

The treatment is aimed at patients with EGFR-mutated tumours with MET overexpression or amplification whose disease has progressed on or after EGFR-targeted therapy.

Hutchmed Acting Chief Executive Officer & Chief Financial Officer Johnny Cheng said: "This filing is an important step toward potentially bringing Orpathys plus Tagrisso to patients in the US, after its approval in China based on the Sachi Phase III trial."

Shell fell 0.5% after taking a final investment decision to double production capacity at the LNG Canada facility in British Columbia.

The oil and gas major said the second phase of the project will add two liquefied natural gas processing units, or trains, increasing total production capacity at the Kitimat facility to 28 million tonnes per annum from 14 million.

Shell owns a 40% stake in LNG Canada and expects to receive nearly 6 million tonnes per annum of additional LNG from the expansion. Commercial operations are expected to begin in the early 2030s.

Shell said the investment is expected to generate double-digit returns and support long-term cash flow growth.

On the FTSE 250, Vesuvius jumped 30% after receiving a revised takeover proposal from RHI Magnesita with a total value of 551p per Vesuvius share.

Vesuvius said it was carefully evaluating the latest proposal. RHI Magnesita has until October 27 to announce a firm intention to make an offer or walk away.

Close Brothers Group surged 11% after reporting that its annual pretax loss narrowed to £60.3 million from £122.4 million a year earlier, while its net loss narrowed to £63.4 million from £77.9 million.

The merchant banking group said it would not pay a final dividend for financial 2026 due to continued uncertainty over legal challenges to the UK Financial Conduct Authority's motor finance consumer redress scheme and its potential financial impact.

Close Brothers added £164.7 million to its motor finance commissions provision during the year, taking the total to around £320 million.

Its common equity tier 1 capital ratio stood at 14.1% at July 31, with the introduction of Basel 3.1 expected to reduce this to 13.3%. Close Brothers expects the monetary impact on capital headroom to be minimal and continues to target a CET1 ratio of 12% to 13% over the medium term.

Tribal Group shares rose 2.5% after its largest shareholder Jenzabar announced a possible takeover offer valuing the company at 111p per share.

On Monday, Tribal accepted a 105p-per-share takeover offer from Thames Bidco, a company controlled by funds and accounts managed or advised by Main Capital Partners.

Jenzabar, which owns around 26.2% of Tribal, has until October 27 to announce a firm intention to make an offer.

In Asia on Tuesday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo ended down 0.6%. In China, the Shanghai Composite closed 0.2% higher, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong closed 0.5% lower. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed up 0.3%.

In the US on Monday, Wall Street ended lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.7%, the S&P 500 down 0.8% and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.9%.

The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 5.23%, narrowing from 5.26%. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury was quoted at 5.55%, narrowing from 5.57%.

Meanwhile, Andy Burnham is expected to use his speech to the Labour Party conference early Tuesday afternoon to set out plans to overhaul the UK's social care system, tackle rising youth unemployment and increase investment in infrastructure.

Gold was quoted at USD4,142.11 an ounce early Tuesday, down from USD4,282.86 on Monday.

Still to come on the economic calendar, UK mortgage approvals and Irish retail sales are due.

Later, Canada releases gross domestic product figures, while the US reports house price data and Jolts job openings.

Copyright 2026 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.