15th Jun 2026 12:20
(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London surrendered much of their early advance by midday on Monday, although remained in positive territory as investors assessed the implications of a tentative US-Iran agreement aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz and easing tensions in the Middle East.
The FTSE 100 index was up 6.40 points, 0.1%, at 10,479.11. The FTSE 250 was up 133.18 points, 0.6%, at 23,458.65, and the AIM all-share was up 16.43 points, 2.0%, at 803.76.
The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.2% at 1,040.44, the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.4% at 20,167.62, and the Cboe small companies was down 0.5% at 18,649.32.
In European equities on Monday, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 1.1%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was up 1.2%.
Investor sentiment was supported by reports that the US and Iran have reached an interim agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and begin 60 days of talks on Tehran's nuclear programme, a key obstacle in efforts to bring the conflict to an end.
Officials from both countries are expected to meet in Switzerland later this week to formally sign the accord, although some issues appear to remain unresolved and neither side has yet published the text of the agreement.
Before its closure, the Strait of Hormuz handled around one-fifth of global oil supplies, with nearly 600 vessels still awaiting passage through the waterway.
Brent oil traded at USD83.03 a barrel at midday Monday, down from USD87.00 late Friday and well below the roughly USD120 peaks seen during the conflict.
However, optimism was tempered by comments from Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel, who warned against expecting a rapid normalisation in energy markets.
Speaking at the Euro Finance Summit in Frankfurt, Nagel said it could take months before oil supplies return to normal even if freedom of navigation through Hormuz is restored.
The pound was quoted at USD1.3429 midday Monday, higher compared to USD1.3422 Friday. Against the euro, sterling fell to EUR1.1561 from EUR1.1587 a day prior. The euro stood at USD1.1611, higher against USD1.1583. Against the yen, the dollar traded at JPY160.01, lower compared with JPY160.12.
On the FTSE 100, miners led gains as stronger precious metals prices boosted the sector. Fresnillo rose 8.0%, Antofagasta gained 6.2% and Endeavour Mining added 5.6%.
Gold traded at USD4,338.20 an ounce at midday Monday, up from USD4,219.28 on Friday.
Halma climbed 5.5%, recovering some of last week's post-results losses after Exane BNP Paribas upgraded the stock to 'outperform'.
By contrast, Shell and BP fell 4.3% and 3.4% respectively as lower oil prices weighed on the energy majors following the US-Iran agreement.
Travel stocks benefited from expectations that disruption in the Middle East will ease. Wizz Air rose 5.7%, easyJet added 1.0%, and British Airways owner IAG gained 3.0%.
On the FTSE 250, Vistry fell 5.3%. The Sunday Times reported the housebuilder has launched a voluntary redundancy programme as it seeks to preserve cash after pausing its share buyback programme last month to prioritise debt reduction.
Broker sentiment also deteriorated, with JPMorgan cutting the stock to 'underweight' with a 210p price target, while Jefferies lowered its target price to 251p from 511p and maintained a 'hold' recommendation.
Among smaller caps, Defence Holdings jumped 16%, extending Friday's gains following its partnership with Oracle Corp.
BSF Enterprise fell 11%, extending losses after its T-Rex leather handbag failed to achieve its reserve price at auction on Friday.
Union Jack Oil surged 25% after Reabold Resources, down 1.4%, confirmed it is in talks to acquire the company.
IQE advanced 16% after striking a supply agreement with Tower Semiconductor and resolving ongoing litigation.
Elsewhere, eurozone data disappointed. Eurostat reported the bloc unexpectedly posted a EUR1.0 billion goods trade deficit in April, compared with a revised EUR4.9 billion surplus in March. Economists had expected a surplus of EUR7.8 billion.
The EU's trade surplus with the US fell 42% year-on-year to EUR9.9 billion, while its trade deficit with China widened 10% to EUR31.9 billion. The bloc's surplus with the UK rose 8.1% to EUR16.0 billion, while its surplus with Switzerland jumped 49% to EUR8.2 billion. The trade deficit with Norway widened 58% to EUR4.9 billion.
Separate figures showed eurozone industrial production rose just 0.1% month-on-month in April, slowing from 0.4% growth in March and missing consensus forecasts for a 0.3% increase.
Stocks in New York were called higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was called up 0.9%, the S&P 500 up 1.2%, and the Nasdaq Composite up 2.0%.
The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 4.44%, narrowing from 4.48%, while the yield on the US 30-year Treasury eased to 4.95% from 4.97%.
Still to come on Monday's economic calendar, Canada releases manufacturing sales data, while in the US investors will monitor the New York Empire State manufacturing index and industrial production figures.
By Eva Castanedo, Alliance News reporter
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