20th May 2026 17:21
(Alliance News) - The FTSE 100 rallied into the close on Wednesday and the oil price fell on fresh hopes for progress in peace talks between the US and Iran.
The FTSE 100 closed up 101.79 points, 1.0%, at 10,432.34 It had earlier traded as low as 10,279.07.
The FTSE 250 ended up 270.41 points, 1.2%, at 22,838.38, but the AIM All-Share fell 0.81 of a point, 0.1%, at 792.81.
The Cboe UK 100 ended up 1.0% at 1,037.43, the Cboe UK 250 was up 1.1% at 19,750.49, and the Cboe Small Companies Index ended up 0.4% at 18,539.13.
The late stock gains came as US President Donald Trump said the US is in "final stages" of talks with Iran.
Trump said American negotiators were close to a potential peace accord with Iran, AFP reported.
"We're in the final stages of Iran, we'll see what happens," Trump told reporters on Wednesday. "We'll either have a deal or we're going to do some things that are a little bit nasty. But hopefully that won't happen."
The comments saw Brent crude for July delivery trade lower at USD105.26 a barrel on Wednesday, down from USD110.72 at the time of the equities close in London on Tuesday.
Oil prices had earlier remained inflated as Iran's chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf claimed the US was seeking to restart the war and hoping the Islamic republic would surrender.
On Wednesday, Iran's Revolutionary Guards warned that the war would expand beyond the region if the US and Israel resume attacks after Trump said he would strike again unless Tehran agreed a peace deal.
Investors in London were also digesting better-than-forecast UK inflation figures.
The Office for National Statistics said UK consumer prices rose 2.8% in April, cooling from a 3.3% surge in March. A loftier rate of 3.0% had been expected for April, according to consensus cited by FXStreet.
Excluding food, energy, alcohol and tobacco, the annual core consumer price inflation rate cooled to 2.5% in April from 3.1% in March, below consensus of 2.6%.
Annual service price inflation eased markedly to 3.2% in April from 4.5% in March.
But analysts warned the lower CPI figure could be the last for some time.
"The April print is likely to represent the trough in inflation as the rise in energy prices is likely to cause a pickup in inflation in coming months. Moreover, some of the downside inflation surprise today was driven by erratic airfares/packaged holidays, which should reverse," said analysts at Bank of America.
Kallum Pickering, chief economist at Peel Hunt, said the figures ease the pressure on the Bank of England to react to Iran-related energy price rises with a policy tightening.
"With any luck, the positive inflation surprise in the April data will be the first of several over coming months," he said.
The pound traded at USD1.3456 on Wednesday afternoon, up from USD1.3396 on Tuesday. Against the euro, sterling firmed to EUR1.1568 from EUR1.1549 on Tuesday.
In European equity markets on Wednesday, the CAC 40 in Paris ended up 1.7% and the DAX 40 in Frankfurt advanced 1.4%.
In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.9%, as was the S&P 500, while the Nasdaq Composite was 1.3% higher.
Nvidia reports first quarter earnings after the market close with investors expecting the chipmaker to deliver a beat-and-raise once again.
Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, said the market is expecting another "monster" report.
She said comments from Chief Executive Jensen Huang will be crucial to how the market reacts to this earnings report.
"Huang is expected to say that the transition from Blackwell architecture to the new Vera Rubin system is going well, and there could be a ramp up in production in the second half of 2026. This is important, since this new system is vital for strong future revenues for the chipmaker," she added.
The yield on the US 10-year Treasury narrowed to 4.58% on Wednesday from 4.68% on Tuesday. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury fell to 5.11% from 5.18%.
The euro traded higher against the greenback, at USD1.1632 on Wednesday against USD1.1598 on Tuesday. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JPY158.69, lower than JPY159.14.
Marks & Spencer led the FTSE 100 risers, climbing 6.6%, after annual results showed the impact of the 2025 cyberattack which forced the retailer to suspend all online sales for around six weeks.
The London-based clothing, food and homeware retailer said pretax profit dropped 29% to GBP364.6 million in the 52 weeks to March 28 from GBP511.8 million the year prior.
Adjusted pretax profit fell 24% to GBP671.4 million from GBP881.1 million, but beat Visible Alpha consensus of GBP640.3 million.
JPMorgan analyst Georgina Johanan said it was a "better than feared" update.
M&S Chief Executive Stuart Machin said it was an "extraordinary year".
"A resilient balance sheet supported by the hard work done on our cash position in recent years allowed us to absorb the cost of disruption without compromising our financial health," he added.
AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould said the cyberattack crisis now looks more like a "blip" in a story of continuing recovery at the retailer.
Weir, up 4.0%, was supported by positive research notes from UBS and JPMorgan.
UBS estimates exposure to oil sands and coal, and Micromine, could contribute an additional 4.7% to growth, lifting Weir's organic growth rate to the mid-to-high single digits, compared with around 3% average organic order growth over the past two years.
But Experian fell 3.0%, as in-line results and a new share buyback failed to spark life into the share price.
On the FTSE 250, RS Group stormed 15% to the good as it posted improved profit and initiated an up to GBP100 million share buyback programme.
The London-based industrial and electronics products distributor said made "good progress" during the financial year, and said it sees "improving momentum" in financial 2027, noting that most of its major markets are now back into low single digit growth.
Gold traded at USD4,536.32 an ounce on Wednesday, up from USD4,502.96 on Tuesday.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Marks & Spencer, up 21.70p at 348.50p, Babcock International, up 52.30p at 1,039.50p, Rolls Royce, up 60.00p at 1,224.60p, Antofagasta, up 173.00p at 3,822.00p and International Consolidated Airlines, up 17.60p at 397.80p.
The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Experian, down 80.00p at 2,630.00p, Centrica, down 3.75p at 194.75p, Relx, down 45.00p at 2,482.00p, Games Workshop, down 280.00p at 18,850.00p and Autotrader, down 6.90p at 496.30p.
Thursday's global economic calendar has eurozone consumer confidence and trade data, US weekly initial jobless claims figures and a slew of composite PMI reports.
Thursday's local corporate calendar has full-year results from BT and half-year earnings from Sage Group and easyJet.
By Jeremy Cutler, Alliance News reporter
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