UK’s FTSE 100 ended flat on Monday, well off its session lows as oil prices eased a touch after Iran and Israel said they would stop attacks on one another following an appeal from U.S. President Donald Trump.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 index ended nearly flat at 10,373.2 points, after falling as much as 0.5% earlier in the day. The midcap FTSE 250 slipped 0.2%.
• Iran and Israel said they had halted attacks on each other after an appeal from Trump that they immediately “stop ‘shooting'”, though Tehran said it would resume strikes if Israel continued to hit Hezbollah in Lebanon.
• Crude oil prices were last up over 1%, scaling back from a 5% jump earlier in the day as renewed Israeli strikes on Iran and attacks on Lebanon had reduced hopes of an imminent end to the wider war.
• Heavyweight banks climbed 0.4%, as shares of HSBC added around 1%, snapping a three-day losing streak.
• Life insurers and beverages led gains among FTSE 350 sectors, climbing around 0.7% each.
• Tate & Lyle jumped 14.8% after U.S. firm Ingredion struck a deal to buy the food ingredients maker for £2.7 billion ($3.6 billion) in cash.
• Rate-sensitive homebuilders were the laggards, falling 2.8%, while utilities – often traded as a bond proxy – also fell 1%.
• Bank of England policymaker Alan Taylor said interest rates at their current level were restrictive for the economy and he did not see the need for an increase to tackle inflationary pressures that have grown as a result of the Iran war.
• British government bond yields inched slightly higher, while the pound was flat against the dollar.
• Mpac Group slumped 20% after the packaging and automation solution firm said it expected full-year profit to be substantially below current market expectations.
(Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan）
