London close: Stocks rebound from one-month low, utilities lead the charge

30th Apr 2026 17:13

(Sharecast News) - UK blue chips rebounded strongly on Thursday after hitting a one-month low the previous session, with strong gains in the heavyweight utilities, financial and mining sectors providing a big boost despite ongoing uncertainty in the Middle East.

The FTSE 100 finished 1.6% higher at 10,378.82, having dropped 4.3% over the past eight trading days combined to its lowest level since 31 March.

"Robust earnings reports and strong commodity prices drove this uptick, overshadowing the cautious sentiment ahead of the Bank of England's upcoming decision," said Patrick Munnelly, partner for market strategy at Tickmill Group. However, he said that the positive finish "still lacked the fervour of a full-blown domestic risk rally".

"The leading sectors in the FTSE were primarily global industrials, mining companies, and precious metals, all of which thrived amid ongoing concerns about the U.S.-Iran conflict, oil prices soaring above $122 a barrel, and the potential for another energy crisis that could compel central banks to maintain restrictive policies for an extended period," Munnelly said.

Both the Bank of England and European Central Bank on Thursday followed in the footsteps of the Federal Reserve the previous evening to keep interest rates on hold, as policymakers proceed with caution in regards to the impact of Middle East conflict on economic growth and inflation.

Meanwhile, oil markets continued to produce wild swings, soaring to a high of $114.70 before tracking 0.8% lower to $109.61 by the close. Prices had initially risen on fears war in the Middle East was set to escalate, despite the fragile ceasefire between the US and Iran.

On Wednesday Donald Trump posted a smiling picture of himself on social media wearing sunglasses and holding an assault rifle, with the caption "No more Mr Nice Guy!", raising fears of a resumption of attacks on Iran if peace talks fail. Tehran, meanwhile, remained bullish, with a senior IRGC officer warning that American warships could be targeted if the ceasefire collapsed.

Neil Wilson, UK investor strategist at Saxo Markets, put the dip in oil prices down to technical reasons. "I think there was a bit of spiky price action due to the expiry of the June contract and traders pushed it up aggressively on low volume so maybe that is just unwinding a bit," he said.

United Utilities, Rolls-Royce surge

United Utilities surged 11% as it unveiled plans to raise £800m to help fund a wide-ranging, multi-billion pound investment in its infrastructure. Severn Trent, British Gas owner Centrica, National Grid and SSE also rose.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "Plans for a massive flood of investment...has created an unusual level of excitement for a part of the stock market historically seen as pretty boring.

"The plan to support areas like data centres, clean energy and new homes is being taken as a game changer by investors for now, although delivering on this big programme of spending and remaining on time and on budget is the big challenge for the company."

Rolls-Royce was also 8% higher as it held guidance after making a strong start to the year across all divisions as it moved quickly to mitigate the impact of the Iran war.

Standard Chartered rallied 4% as the bank's first-quarter profits came in ahead of expectations, driven by strong growth in the blue chip's wealth business.

On the downside, Whitbread fell 6% as it announced a new five-year plan that will involve the sale and leaseback of £1.5bn of its freehold properties, target £2bn of free cash flow, reduce gross capital expenditure by £1bn and result in the loss of around 3,800 jobs as it does away with its chain of branded restaurants.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 10,378.82 1.62%

FTSE 250 (MCX) 22,465.15 1.19%

techMARK (TASX) 5,862.26 0.84%

FTSE 100 - Risers

United Utilities Group (UU.) 1,457.00p 11.05%

Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 1,182.00p 7.59%

Severn Trent (SVT) 3,269.00p 7.29%

Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,862.80p 4.07%

Centrica (CNA) 214.80p 4.02%

Fresnillo (FRES) 3,235.00p 3.95%

St James's Place (STJ) 1,218.50p 3.48%

Antofagasta (ANTO) 3,549.50p 3.24%

SSE (SSE) 2,641.00p 2.98%

Persimmon (PSN) 1,057.00p 2.92%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Smurfit Westrock (DI) (SWR) 2,778.00p -5.89%

DCC (CDI) (DCC) 5,540.00p -5.78%

Whitbread (WTB) 2,234.00p -5.66%

Weir Group (WEIR) 2,654.00p -3.98%

Autotrader Group (AUTO) 496.00p -2.44%

Entain (ENT) 543.60p -2.30%

Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 7,930.00p -2.03%

Admiral Group (ADM) 3,378.00p -1.75%

IG Group Holdings (IGG) 1,503.00p -1.47%

Rightmove (RMV) 433.40p -1.34%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Raspberry PI Holdings (RPI) 621.00p 8.76%

Endeavour Mining (EDV) 4,414.00p 6.54%

Pennon Group (PNN) 549.50p 6.39%

HGCapital Trust (HGT) 371.00p 6.00%

Hochschild Mining (HOC) 623.00p 5.06%

OSB Group (OSB) 528.00p 4.35%

Carnival (CCL) 1,970.00p 4.26%

Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) 112.40p 3.98%

Kier Group (KIE) 203.40p 3.93%

AEP Plantations (AEP) 1,900.00p 3.71%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Sequoia Economic Infrastructure Income Fund Limited (SEQI) 79.00p -3.07%

Greggs (GRG) 1,517.00p -2.57%

Playtech (PTEC) 365.00p -2.56%

4Imprint Group (FOUR) 3,644.00p -2.51%

Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 40.44p -1.89%

Henderson Far East Income Ltd. (HFEL) 257.00p -1.53%

JPMorgan India Growth & Income (JIGI) 836.00p -1.42%

Genuit Group (GEN) 256.80p -1.38%

THG (THG) 31.12p -1.21%

Shawbrook Group (SHAW) 328.00p -1.20%