London midday: FTSE pares gains as rally loses steam, oil majors slump

15th Jun 2026 10:49

(Sharecast News) - The rally in London stocks had lost steam by midday on Monday, with heavy losses for energy giants BP and Shell weighing on the top-flight index as oil prices tumbled after the US and Iran agreed a peace deal.

The FTSE 100 was up just 0.1% at 10,564.99, off earlier highs and underperforming European peers. Brent crude was down 4.9% at $83.03 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate was of 5.2% at $80.47 after the US and Iran agreed to end all fighting and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

The long-sought peace deal was first announced by Pakistan, which had acted as a mediator between the warring factions. Full details have not been published, but prime minister Shehbaz Sharif confirmed both sides had declared "immediate and permanent termination" of all military operations, including in Lebanon. There was no mention of Israel.

Donald Trump shortly afterwards said the Strait of Hormuz would reopen. Posting on Truth Social, the US president wrote: "I hereby fully authorise the toll free opening of the Strait of Hormuz, and, simultaneously herewith, authorise the immediate removal of the United States Naval blockade.

"Ships of the World, start your engines. Let the oil flow!"

Trump also posted: "This Great Deal will bring Peace and Security to the whole Region. Many presidents have tried to make Peace with Iran, and all have failed before me. The Leaders of the Region have, for the first time, found a President who can help them achieve real Peace."

The Strait of Hormuz is unlikely to immediately reopen, as mines will need to be cleared before ships can safely resume using it. But that did not stop oil from tumbling.

The US and Iran are due to sign a memorandum of understanding on Friday in Switzerland.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "Markets have finally got the news they've longed for since the beginning of March as the end of the Iran war is more clearly in sight.

"The framework deal is a major step forward to ending the conflict, although it is still not officially signed and remains light on detail. Markets seem cautiously optimistic there won't be any setbacks to getting it over the line, albeit investors are aware the narrative can change at the click of a finger. A full celebration is off the cards until the ink is dry on the deal.

"Asian and European markets enjoyed a bounce on the news, but the scale of the advance wasn't as huge as one might have expected. That's partially down to markets having already bounced back in recent weeks, but it is also because inflation fears won't suddenly disappear. It could take weeks or months to get the Strait of Hormuz fully back into action and even longer to get oil production back up to speed in the Middle East because of the damage to infrastructure. Oil may not be flowing as freely as it did before until at least 2027."

Looking to the rest of the week and central bank policy announcements will be in focus, with the Bank of Japan, the Reserve Bank of Australia, the Federal Reserve, the Swiss National Bank and the Bank of England all due to make decisions.

Matt Britzman at Hargreaves Lansdown said lower oil prices give central banks a little more breathing room, but not enough to change the picture overnight. "Markets are currently pricing in something close to a coin toss on a US rate hike by year-end, while the UK looks more firmly tilted toward a move higher, likely toward the back end of the year if the markets are to be believe," he said.

In equity markets, airlines IAG and Wizz Air flew higher as falling oil prices eased concerns about fuel costs. Engine maker Rolls-Royce also racked up strong gains.

Precious metals miners and miners more generally were on the rise, with Fresnillo, Hochschild, Endeavour, Antofagasta and Anglo American among the top performers.

Rate-sensitive housebuilders advanced, with Persimmon, Barratt Redrow, Berkeley and Bellway all up. Vistry bucked the trend, however, following a Financial Times report the housebuilder has offered voluntary redundancies to employees as it tries to preserve cash to shore up its business.

On the downside, energy giants Shell and BP slid in tandem with oil prices, along with Harbour Energy, Diversified Energy and Ithaca.

Defence firm BAE Systems was also in the red, while utilities and telecoms stocks also fell.

Frasers Group was weaker after saying it had launched a bid to buy Australia's Accent Group for £166m.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 10,482.95 0.11%

FTSE 250 (MCX) 23,476.63 0.65%

techMARK (TASX) 5,965.07 0.01%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Fresnillo (FRES) 3,243.00p 8.03%

Antofagasta (ANTO) 4,291.00p 6.27%

Halma (HLMA) 4,058.00p 4.77%

Weir Group (WEIR) 2,414.00p 4.77%

Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 1,363.80p 4.28%

Anglo American (AAL) 4,135.00p 3.52%

Persimmon (PSN) 1,072.50p 3.07%

Melrose Industries (MRO) 475.90p 3.03%

International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 449.20p 2.93%

IMI (IMI) 2,926.00p 2.88%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Shell (SHEL) 3,081.50p -4.03%

BP (BP.) 516.20p -3.44%

BT Group (BT.A) 203.50p -2.86%

Centrica (CNA) 181.80p -2.15%

BAE Systems (BA.) 1,869.00p -2.15%

Vodafone Group (VOD) 113.00p -2.08%

Severn Trent (SVT) 2,874.00p -1.85%

United Utilities Group (UU.) 1,288.00p -1.45%

SSE (SSE) 2,361.00p -1.30%

Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,159.00p -1.28%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Hochschild Mining (HOC) 591.50p 10.66%

Pan African Resources (PAF) 115.70p 6.44%

Endeavour Mining (EDV) 4,043.00p 5.77%

Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 1,141.00p 5.56%

Genuit Group (GEN) 278.20p 4.59%

Volution Group (FAN) 628.00p 4.32%

Renishaw (RSW) 5,225.00p 3.88%

BlackRock World Mining Trust (BRWM) 1,012.00p 3.69%

Bridgepoint Group (Reg S) (BPT) 253.60p 3.68%

Fidelity Emerging Markets Limited Ptg NPV (FEML) 1,472.00p 3.66%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Ithaca Energy (ITH) 232.10p -5.80%

Vistry Group (VTY) 229.80p -4.31%

Harbour Energy (HBR) 249.60p -3.33%

B&M European Value Retail (BME) 194.70p -3.33%

Energean (ENOG) 715.00p -3.31%

Clarkson (CKN) 4,632.00p -3.30%

Diversified Energy Company (DI) (DEC) 998.00p -2.92%

Frasers Group (FRAS) 774.00p -2.27%

Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 183.00p -1.93%

Chemring Group (CHG) 515.00p -1.90%