25th Aug 2026 09:09
(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London opened mostly in the green on Tuesday, as investors digest US plans for a barrage of economic pressure on Iran, while in the UK news of GBP10 billion in government funding lifted housebuilder shares.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has laid out plans for the "economic asphyxiation" of Iran, with expanded secondary sanctions to target Iran's digital assets, technology, gold, aviation and shipping sectors. The Treasury Department has also issued new sanctions against 60 individuals, companies and vessels that allegedly aid Iran in oil revenue generation, weapons procurement and cyber operations.
US President Donald Trump was making phone calls to world leaders with requests to stop interactions with Tehran, Bessent said.
The FTSE 100 index opened up 15.98 points, 0.2%, at 10,870.30. The FTSE 250 was up 25.12 points, 0.1%, at 24,742.60, and the AIM all-share was up 0.46 points, 0.1%, at 814.50.
The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.3% at 1,081.77, the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.2% at 21,582.55, and the Cboe small companies was down 0.1% at 19,098.54.
Vistry led the FTSE 250, up 19%, after announcing a GBP350 million funding award as part of the UK government's GBP39 billion Social & Affordable Homes programme.
In line with the GBP39 billion target, the government has allocated nearly GBP10 billion across councils and housing associations in the first wave of funding to boost "genuinely affordable homes".
Vistry's rising tide lifted other housebuilding boats, with the FTSE 100's Persimmon up 1.4% and Barratt Redrow up 1.3%. Further, on the FTSE 250, Taylor Wimpey rose 1.1%, Berkeley Group was up 1.0% and Bellway edged up 0.5%.
Also on the FTSE 100, some defence-linked stocks performed well, with Melrose up 8.4% and Rolls-Royce up 1.4%, although Babcock lost 0.6%.
Melrose announced that the Orange County District Attorney's Office in California has closed its criminal investigation and will not bring any criminal charges over May's incident involving a tank at GKN Aerospace's facility in Garden Grove, California.
"Since the incident occurred, GKN has worked closely with regulators, local authorities and other relevant stakeholders to carefully review the incident and prepare to safely return to full operations," it added.
About 50,000 California residents at the time were forced to evacuate their homes following the incident.
Among smaller caps, Gulf Keystone Petroleum rose 8.6%.
The oil producer's first-half gross production averaged 14,600 barrels of oil per day, down on-year from 44,100 bopd. However, GKP also announced a 4.6 US cents per share interim dividend and has swung to a post-tax profit of USD12.9 million.
The realised oil price for the period jumped on-year to USD83.5 per barrel from USD27.8, the firm noted.
Brent oil was quoted at USD89.87 a barrel early in London on Tuesday, down from USD92.74 late Monday.
In European equities on Tuesday, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.5%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was up 0.3%.
The pound was quoted at USD1.3638 early Tuesday, compared to USD1.3639 on Monday. Against the euro, sterling rose to EUR1.1694 from EUR1.1689 a day prior. The euro stood at USD1.1657, lower against USD1.1669. Against the yen, the dollar was trading higher at JPY159.43 compared to JPY159.13.
In Asia on Tuesday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo was up 0.5%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was up 0.2%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was up 0.1%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed up 0.7%.
In the US on Monday, Wall Street ended mixed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.3%, the S&P 500 down 0.3% and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.8%.
The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted unchanged at 4.70%. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury was also flat at 5.23%.
Gold was quoted lower at USD4,635.30 an ounce against USD4,670.28.
Still to come on Tuesday's economic calendar, Germany has business climate data. US building permits, ADP employment figures and new home sales will follow later.
By Emma Curzon, Alliance News reporter
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