London midday: FTSE stays down, oil eases as Iran signals openness to talks

20th Jul 2026 10:56

(Sharecast News) - London stocks were still weaker by midday on Monday but oil prices eased back after Iran suggested it was open to diplomatic talks with the US, as Andy Burnham prepared to deliver his first speech as Prime Minister.

The FTSE 100 was down 0.4% at 10,554.31. At the same time, Brent crude was up 0.4% at $88.41 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate was 0.3% lower at $82.28 after Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said at a press conference in Tehran: "We have been informed by mediators, we have received messages - without going into details - but the main point is that the diplomatic apparatus has been active in recent days and ideas have been conveyed to us by certain mediators."

Earlier, Brent crude had breached $90 a barrel and hit its highest level since June after US forces attacked Iran for the ninth night and as Tehran pledged that not a "single drop" of oil or gas would transit through the Strait of Hormuz if US aggression continues.

Speaking to reporters on his return to Washington after the World Cup, Trump said: "We hit them very hard again tonight." He said the US had done it in honour of three US soldiers killed in strikes in Jordan and Iraq.

Meanwhile, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said the Strait of Hormuz "will not be safe for the transit of petrochemical products, nor even a single drop of oil and gas" as long as the US strikes continue. It added that it will respond with a "punitive operation".

On home shores, Keir Starmer gave his final speech outside Downing Street and King Charles accepted his resignation. Burnham will now be invited to form a new government and deliver his first speech in office as he becomes the seventh PM in 10 years.

Commenting on Burnham's potential Cabinet picks, Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist at Wealth Club, said Shabana Mahmood is considered to be "a relatively safe pair of hands" as chancellor given her previous role as shadow chief secretary to the Treasury.

"However, there are still significant concerns swirling about the impact of an increase in capital gains tax, which she is believed to support, given that it risks quashing the entrepreneurial spirit the UK needs to harness to boost growth," she said.

"But eyes will be on other key Cabinet roles too, particularly who will lead the Ministry of Defence, given the challenge ahead for the UK's armed forces in dealing with heightened threats on a more limited budget than required to meet the demands of the Strategic Defence Review."

In equity markets, Ryanair flew lower as the budget airline posted a 34% drop in first-quarter profit after tax, missing analysts' expectations, as fuel prices jumped and fares fell due to the conflict in the Middle East and the timing of Easter.

Profit after tax declined to €538m from €820m in the same period a year earlier, as revenue nudged up 1% to €4.38bn. Analysts were expecting PAT of €579m.

Segro nudged lower as it rejected a sweetened £13.5bn approach from US logistics giant Prologis.

Prologis said its third approach, which consists of 0.089 new Prologis shares for each Segro share, plus a partial cash alternative of up to £2.7bn, had been made and rejected last week. It urged shareholders to back the proposal, however, arguing that the Segro assessment of its own value was "unrealistic".

Storage specialist Big Yellow fell even as it reported a rise in first-quarter sales as cost cutting offset a slight fall in occupancy. Like-for-like revenue rose 2% to £52.m in the three months to 30 June, with occupancy down 0.2 percentage points to 79.2%.

On the upside, Computacenter rallied after an upgrade to 'buy' from 'hold' at Berenberg.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 10,554.31 -0.43%

FTSE 250 (MCX) 23,583.84 -0.09%

techMARK (TASX) 5,910.78 -0.11%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Computacenter (CCC) 4,804.00p 4.98%

Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 7,904.00p 2.46%

JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 87.98p 1.95%

Diploma (DPLM) 7,370.00p 1.86%

Experian (EXPN) 2,762.00p 1.69%

Convatec Group (CTEC) 219.80p 1.66%

Relx plc (REL) 2,507.00p 1.09%

St James's Place (STJ) 1,086.00p 0.84%

Compass Group 11 (CPG) 31.82p 0.70%

Whitbread (WTB) 2,400.00p 0.59%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Metlen Energy & Metals (MTLN) 43.22p -2.44%

Vodafone Group (VOD) 115.90p -2.07%

Halma (HLMA) 3,622.00p -1.41%

Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,034.50p -1.33%

M&G (MNG) 349.20p -1.33%

IG Group Holdings (IGG) 1,721.00p -1.32%

International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 438.00p -1.31%

Tesco (TSCO) 477.60p -1.30%

Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (DI) (CCEP) 7,795.00p -1.27%

Persimmon (PSN) 1,072.50p -1.24%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Ocado Group (OCDO) 174.70p 5.69%

Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 187.20p 3.65%

Pagegroup (PAGE) 169.10p 3.17%

Frasers Group (FRAS) 751.00p 2.74%

Rosebank Industries NPV (ROSE) 303.00p 2.71%

WPP (WPP) 289.10p 2.51%

IP Group (IPO) 66.20p 2.48%

Ithaca Energy (ITH) 241.50p 2.16%

Hays (HAS) 55.35p 2.12%

Kainos Group (KNOS) 833.50p 2.02%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 613.00p -5.11%

Dr. Martens (DOCS) 72.20p -4.87%

Foresight Environmental Infrastructure Limited (FGEN) 85.30p -3.29%

HGCapital Trust (HGT) 371.00p -3.26%

Plus500 Ltd (DI) (PLUS) 4,076.00p -3.18%

CMC Markets (CMCX) 684.00p -2.43%

Raspberry PI Holdings (RPI) 652.00p -2.32%

Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 1,079.00p -2.26%

Utilico Emerging Markets Ltd (DI) (UEM) 278.00p -2.11%

Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 764.00p -1.99%oc