26th Mar 2026 16:58
(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London closed lower on Thursday, with the price of oil climbing as doubts grew about talks between the US and Iran, after Iran countered the US peace plan.
The FTSE 100 index closed down 134.67 points, 1.3%, at 9,972.17. The FTSE 250 ended down 179.38 points, 0.8%, at 21,296.07, and the AIM all-share closed down 10.18 points, 1.4%, at 719.06.
The Cboe UK 100 was down 1.1% at 992.95, the Cboe UK 250 was 0.5% lower at 18,518.35, and the Cboe small companies was up 0.2% at 16,966.29.
In European equities on Thursday, the CAC 40 in Paris closed down 1.0%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt ended 1.5% lower.
The pound fell to USD1.3338 on Thursday afternoon from USD1.3377 at the equities close on Wednesday. Against the euro, sterling rose to EUR1.1563 from EUR1.1558 a day prior.
The euro stood lower at USD1.1534 from USD1.1572. Against the yen, the dollar was trading higher at JPY159.65 compared to JPY159.19.
Stocks fell on Thursday amid uncertainty around talks between the US and Iran to end the war in the Middle East.
US President Donald Trump said that US military operations against Iran are "extremely" ahead of schedule, citing an original timeframe of four to six weeks for the war that began nearly a month ago.
"They're lousy fighters, but they're great negotiators, and they are begging to work out a deal," Trump said at the White House.
Trump said Iran allowed 10 oil tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz as a "present" to show it was serious about negotiations.
Iran has responded to the 15-point plan through unnamed intermediaries, news agency Tasnim reported, and is now waiting for Washington's reply.
Iran responded by sending a five-point counterproposal, according to the source cited by Tasnim.
The five points were ending the "aggression", the establishment of a mechanism guaranteeing that neither Israel nor the US would return to war, financial compensation, and the end of hostilities on all fronts – meaning that Israel would stop fighting Hezbollah in Lebanon and possibly Hamas in Gaza.
Brent oil was higher at USD108.80 a barrel on Thursday afternoon, from USD100.91 late Wednesday.
Oil majors climbed as BP rose 2.8% and Shell closed 1.2% higher.
Earlier on Thursday, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation & Development warned that the conflict has darkened the outlook for many of the world's largest economies.
It is now expecting UK inflation to average 4% in 2026, up from the 2.5% forecast in its last report in December, and then decline to 2.6% in 2027, which is up from the previous projection of 2.1%.
This means the UK is headed towards the second-highest inflation rate this year in the G7 group of advanced economies, behind only the US.
The OECD also downgraded its outlook for UK gross domestic product, predicting it will be 0.5 percentage points lower in 2026 than prior forecasts, at 0.7%, before rising to 1.3% in 2027, which has not changed.
"The market rollercoaster continues, with traders waking up to the high likeliness that Trump's five-day extension passes without an agreement," said Scope Markets analyst Joshua Mahony.
"With the deadline fast approaching for Trump's energy infrastructure strikes, fears are growing around a potential escalation over the course of the weekend."
Stocks in New York were lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.8%, the S&P 500 index was 1.1% lower, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.5%.
The yield on the US 10-year Treasury widened to 4.40% on Thursday from 4.32% on Wednesday. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury stretched to 4.94% from 4.89%.
Back in London, Next shares led the FTSE 100 and finished 6.4% higher.
The clothing, footwear and home products retailer said pretax profit increased 21% to GBP1.19 billion in the 52 weeks to January 31 from GBP987.0 million the year prior, ahead of GBP1.15 billion guidance provided in January.
Total group sales rose 11% to GBP7.00 billion from GBP6.32 billion a year ago, ahead of Visible Alpha consensus of GBP6.96 billion. Statutory revenue grew 13% to GBP6.90 billion from GBP6.12 billion.
Jefferies analyst Frederick Wild said the update was "reassuring" against a backdrop where the stock has de-rated "significantly".
Shares in 3i Group sank 18% as it outlined guidance for 2026 and said its investee Action plans to open its first store in the US by 2028.
The private equity firm said its portfolio company is targeting like-for-like sales growth between 4% and 5% in 2026. It is also targeting an earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation margin of 14.8%, unchanged from 2025.
3i previously reported that Action like-for-like sales grew by 4.9% in 2025.
On the FTSE 250 index, shares in Pollen Street closed up 8.9% after it said assets under management increased in 2025.
The asset manager said AUM shot up 30% to GBP7.1 billion at the end of 2025, from GBP5.4 billion 12 months earlier.
Pretax profit for 2025 was 10% higher at GBP61.6 million from GBP55.8 million in 2024, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation climbed 10% to GBP64.6 million from GBP59.0 million.
Playtech shares ended 12% lower after it reported a weaker performance in 2025.
Playtech booked an annual pretax loss of EUR128.6 million, widened from EUR9.4 million in 2024.
Revenue fell 10% to EUR763.6 million from EUR848.0 million on-year. Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation declined to EUR197.0 million from EUR217.5 million.
On the AIM market, Checkit shares closed up 26% after it launched a formal sake process as it cited a "disparity between the company's improving performance and its valuation on AIM".
Checkit said it has received six unsolicited expressions of interest from "a range of credible international parties" over the past nine months.
These have included both "private equity sponsors and strategic acquirers", the company said, though it noted it isn't and hasn't been in active discussions with any of the parties about a possible takeover offer.
Gold fell to USD4,383.70 an ounce on Thursday from USD4,554.59 at Wednesday's close.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Next, up 600.00p at 12,635.00p, BP, up 16.00p at 583.10p, JD Sports Fashion, up 0.82p at 69.90p, Diageo, up 16.00p at 1,393.00p, and Shell, up 39.50p at 3,472.50p.
TThe biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were 3i Group, down 493.00p at 2,299.00p, Antofagasta, down 225.00p at 3,246.00p, Aviva, down 33.20p at 591.40p, Fresnillo, down 158.00p at 3,158.00p, and Segro, down 29.00p at 652.20p.
On Friday's economic calendar, there are UK retail sales figures at 0700 GMT. Later in the day, there is a Spanish consumer price index reading, Ireland retail sales and budget balance data for Canada.
Carnival is due to report its first quarter figures on Friday.
By Michael Hennessey, Alliance News reporter
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