Late market close: FTSE 100 ends higher as US and Iran hold fire

Stocks closed mostly higher on Monday, after the price of oil was driven down by a temporary pause in attacks between Iran and the US, and with multiple London-listed companies having recently agreed to takeovers.

The FTSE 100 index closed up 45.52 points, 0.4%, at 10,781.75. The FTSE 250 ended up 96.61 points, 0.4%, at 23,898.10, while the AIM All-Share closed down 1.29 points, 0.2%, at 771.69.

The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.6% at 1,073.97, the Cboe UK 250 was 0.5% higher at 20,838.49, and the Cboe Small Companies was 0.2% higher at 18,593.19.

In the Middle East, the US held fire at the weekend after 13 days of attacks on sites in Iran, and Donald Trump's UN envoy said the US president was "giving talks some space".

Tehran said in turn it would stop its retaliatory attacks on regional neighbours, handing Gulf shipping and the oil industry a respite.

David Morrison at Trade Nation said it is "unclear" if this is a precursor to a resumption of peace talks, or a tactical move militarily.

Nonetheless, the news saw the price of oil head back below USD90 a barrel. Brent oil for September delivery traded lower at USD89.71 a barrel on Monday afternoon, from USD95.49 late Friday.

Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, cautioned: "Although the situation in the Middle East has calmed, it has not been resolved, and it could make a decline below USD85 per barrel tricky at this stage."

The oil price falls saw BP drop 2.6% and Shell fall 0.9% in London, while on the FTSE 250 Harbour Energy and Ithaca Energy declined 5.7% and 7.8%.

Vodafone led the FTSE 100 gainers, up 4.8%, as it raised its full-year earnings guidance.

The telecommunications firm expects an annual adjusted Ebitda after leases between EUR13.0 billion and EUR13.3 billion, lifted from EUR11.9 billion and EUR12.2 billion before.

On an organic basis, service revenue climbed 5.2% with growth in all segments. Deutsche Bank said this came in higher than consensus expectations in all markets except Turkey.

AstraZeneca rose 1.7% as it reported second quarter revenue in line with consensus, but earnings above forecast.

A lower-than-projected tax charge and improved margins offset higher costs than forecast at the Cambridge-based drugs maker.

The earnings kick off a busy week of results in the UK and US. In London, UK lenders Lloyds, Barclays and NatWest are among well-known names reporting, while on Wall Street, technology firms Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Apple and Amazon headline the corporate calendar.

In European equities on Friday, the CAC 40 in Paris closed up 0.4%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt ended 1.0% higher.

Stocks in New York were mixed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.4%, the S&P 500 index was 0.2% lower, and the Nasdaq Composite declined 0.6%.

The week also sees interest rate calls in the UK, US and Japan. All three central banks are expected to leave interest rates on hold.

In the UK, RBC Capital Markets looks for a 7-2 vote in favour of leaving bank rate at 3.75%, with two dissenting votes for a 25 basis points hike. Goldman Sachs also sees a 7-2 vote for the status quo, though sees risks of further dissents.

"The guidance will likely reiterate that the [Monetary Policy Committee] stands ready to act as necessary to return inflation to target, while refraining from giving a strong steer on the upcoming meetings," Goldman analysts say.

The pound was lower at USD1.3305 on Monday afternoon from USD1.3342 at the equities close on Friday. Against the euro, sterling was lower at EUR1.1698 from EUR1.1717.

The euro stood lower at USD1.1376 from USD1.1385. Against the yen, the dollar was trading down slightly at JPY163.67 compared to JPY163.70.

The yield on the US 10-year Treasury narrowed to 4.65% on Monday from 4.66% on Friday. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury fell to 5.13% from 5.14%.

Gold was little changed at USD4,077.10 an ounce on Monday from USD4,078.09 on Friday.

Back in London, M&A activity continued apace.

DCC Energy rose 0.9% as it agreed to a £5.75 billion takeover.

The Dublin-based provider of sales, marketing and distribution services to the energy sector is being acquired by a consortium comprised of funds advised by Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts and Energy Capital Partners Management.

Pinewood motored 33% higher as the software provider for automotive sellers said Friday it would be "minded to recommend" a possible offer by Ridgeview Partners.

The offer is priced at £4.48 per share in cash, valuing Pinewood's entire issued and to be issued ordinary share capital at £545 million.

Pharos Energy has agreed to an all-cash takeover offer from Serica Energy that values Pharos at £145.7 million, the two London-listed companies announced on Sunday evening. Pharos added 27%, while Serica lost 7.3%.

Elsewhere, on the FTSE 250, Vesuvius plunged 13% as it forecast 2026 trading profit below current market expectations.

The London-based molten metal flow engineering and technology company said that since its May trading update, it has continued to be hurt by "operational issues" in its Steel division. Additionally, Advanced Refractories is experiencing a "challenging" trading environment, particularly in Europe.

Vesuvius now expects full-year trading profit to be slightly ahead of £151.1 million in 2025, on a constant currency basis, below the £169 million market consensus, cited by JPMorgan.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Vodafone, up 5.55p at 120.15p, Relx, up 114.00p at 2,682.00p, Autotrader, up 21.70p at 510.80p, Airtel Africa, up 14.20p at 348.40p and JD Sports, up 3.74p at 92.70p.

The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Glencore, down 18.20p at 519.10p, BP, down 14.10p at 534.30p, Polar Capital Technology Trust, down 16.00p at 629.50p, IMI, down 70.00p at 2,980.00p and Antofagasta, down 80.00p at 3,551.00p.

Tuesday's economic calendar sees a Conference Board consumer confidence reading and the start of the Federal Open Market Committee meeting.

Tuesday's UK corporate calendar has half-year results from lender Barclays, pharmaceuticals firm GSK and consumer goods firm Unilever.

Copyright 2026 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.