LONDON MARKET MIDDAY: Oil still down amid wait for US-Iran news

Thu, 07th May 2026 12:05

(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London were mostly lower midday on Thursday, as markets wait for Tehran to respond to Washington's latest proposed peace deal, although a positive trading update from Helios Towers helped keep the FTSE 250 in the green.

Also, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Labour Party is expected to suffer substantial losses as residents head to the polls in local elections, and the nation's construction activity continued to fall in April under heavy cost burdens.

The FTSE 100 index was down 64.62 points, 0.6%, at 10,374.04. The FTSE 250 was up 97.15 points, 0.4%, at 22,929.57, and the AIM all-share was up 6.91 points, 0.9%, at 815.53.

The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.7% at 1,031.87, the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.3% at 19,928.33, and the Cboe small companies was down 0.6% at 18,216.46.

US President Donald Trump said once again that an agreement to end the war between the US and Iran could be near after positive talks. He had this week briefly launched a naval operation to force open the Strait of Hormuz, only to stand it down within hours, citing progress on negotiations with Iran.

Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said the US proposal remained "under review" and Tehran would communicate its position to mediator Pakistan "after finalising its views".

According to a report from US network NBC News, Trump's U-turn came after Saudi Arabia – whose Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman reportedly talked directly to Trump – refused to allow US forces to use its airspace and bases for the operation to force passage through Hormuz.

Meanwhile, US news outlet Axios, citing two officials, reported that both Tehran and Washington were close to agreeing on a one-page memorandum of understanding to end the war and set a framework for negotiations on Iran's nuclear programme.

"To be clear, the conflict is not over, and it could well prove to be the case that no deal comes to fruition...one should also expect that the path to peace is going to be a bumpy one," Pepperstone Senior Research Strategist Michael Brown commented.

Brent oil was quoted lower at USD99.34 a barrel at midday in London on Thursday from USD102.12 late Wednesday. Shell was down 2.2%, while BP lost 1.3%.

Gold was quoted higher at USD4,737.65 an ounce against USD4,692.73.

Gold miners performed strongly, with the FTSE 100 seeing Endeavour rise 3.1%, Antofagasta 2.7%, and Fresnillo by 2.4%. FTSE 250 listings Pan African and Atalaya rose 4.1% and 3.1%, respectively.

Helios Towers was the clear FTSE 250 leader, up 15%.

The London-based telecommunications tower owner reported adjusted Ebitda of USD127.2 million for the first quarter, up 14% on-year, while tenancies rose 11% on-year to 33,350. Helios also increased its full-year guidance for tenancies to a "record" range of 3,000 to 3,500 additions.

Johnson Service came in second, up 5.3%, after launching a GBP55.0 million buyback programme and reporting 1.4% on-year revenue growth to GBP123.0 million in the first quarter.

Back on the FTSE 100, Melrose was up 0.4% while Rolls-Royce rose 0.3%, but BAE Systems lost 3.7%.

The London-based defence contractor said it has seen a "strong start to 2026" and is "well positioned for both current and future opportunities in defence". Consequently, it backed its outlook for 2026, still expecting a constant currency sales rise between 7% and 9% from GBP30.7 billion in 2026, and a 9% to 11% rise in underlying earnings before interest and tax from GBP3.3 billion.

However, as AJ Bell Head of Markets Dan Coatsworth commented: "A favourable backdrop for BAE Systems is old news for the market and the shares largely failed to fire...Somewhat counterintuitively, defence stocks have taken a step back during the Iran conflict. As one of the top-performing parts of the market heading into the crisis, they were an obvious place for investors to book profits as nervousness started to build.

"News from elsewhere in the sector hasn't been uniformly positive and there have been rumblings about the role of drone warfare and whether this will render some of the big, heavy, expensive kit sold by the likes of BAE somewhat redundant."

JD Sports led the index, up 6.1% after reporting strong annual results.

On AIM, NAHL Group rose 14%.

The legal services-focused consumer marketing services provider swung to a 2025 pretax profit of GBP4.4 million, from a loss of GBP39.1 million in 2024, while revenue rose 3.2% to GBP40.0 million. The company also said it "has started 2026 well".

S4 Capital lost 9.5%, after reporting a decline in first quarter revenue amid "heightened macroeconomic uncertainty caused by the conflict in the Middle East and continued client caution".

Revenue fell 7.5% on-year to GBP164.8 million from GBP178.1 million, while net revenue fell 8.9% to GBP149.2 million. S4 said the aforementioned caution has been particularly apparent in "technology clients, as they allocate even more spend to building artificial intelligence infrastructure".

Deltic Energy, also AIM-listed, rose 33%.

The investor with an exploration and appraisal portfolio in the southern and central North Sea, agreed to a takeover offer from Neo Next+ Energy Upstream UK Ltd, that values Deltic at GBP7.2 million on a fully diluted basis, or 7.7 pence per share in cash. The takeover is expected to become effective in the third quarter of 2026.

Meanwhile in the UK, the headline seasonally adjusted S&P Global UK construction purchasing managers' index posted 39.7 points in April, down from 45.6 points in March and well short of an anticipated 46.0 points reported by Market News International. FXStreet-cited consensus was for a slight rise to 45.7.

"Construction companies often noted that elevated business uncertainty due to the Middle East conflict had led to longer sales conversion times and fewer tender opportunities," S&P Global said.

Housebuilding stocks showed a muted response: Persimmon was up 0.3%, while Barratt Redrow was down 0.1% and Berkeley Group lost 0.2%.

In European equities on Thursday, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.7%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was down 0.1%.

Ireland's unemployment rate was 4.8% in April, down from 5.0% in March which was revised up from 4.7%, data published by the Central Statistics Office showed.

Eurozone retail sales fell less than anticipated on-month in March, data published by Eurostat showed.

Retail sales in the eurozone fell 0.1% in March, less than a 0.3% decline in February which was revised down from a 0.2% contraction, and better than the FXStreet-cited consensus of a 0.3% decline in March.

France's trade deficit increased 25% to EUR6.86 billion in March from EUR5.51 billion in February, the latter of which was revised up from a deficit of EUR5.78 billion. The FXStreet-cited consensus was for a EUR5.6 billion deficit in March.

And in Germany, the construction PMI total activity index deteriorated to 42.1 points in April from 48.0 in March, its worst reading since March last year, S&P Global reported.

Pertinently, input cost inflation rose sharply to its highest since May 2022, amid an increasing impact from the war in the Middle East. Looking ahead, panellists noted potential headwinds to demand from rising inflation, higher interest rates, weakness in the broader economy and elevated levels of uncertainty.

Also on Thursday, the Federal Statistical Office reported that German seasonally and calendar-adjusted new orders in manufacturing were up 5.0% on-month in March, picking up pace from a 1.4% rise in February, which was revised up from 0.9%. The March result sharply beat the FXStreet-cited market consensus of a 1.0% rise.

The pound was quoted higher at USD1.3627 midday Thursday, compared to USD1.3602 on Wednesday. Against the euro, sterling rose to EUR1.1572 from EUR1.1566 a day prior. The euro stood higher at USD1.1772, against USD1.1756. Against the yen, the dollar was trading higher at JPY156.35 compared to JPY156.27.

Stocks in New York were called slightly higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was called up 0.1%, the S&P 500 index up 0.1%, and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.1%.

The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 4.33%, narrowing from 4.35%. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury was quoted at 4.93%, narrowing from 4.94%.

Still to come on Thursday's economic calendar, the US has weekly jobless figures, natural gas stocks, and consumer inflation expectations.

By Emma Curzon, Alliance News reporter

Comments and questions to newsroom@alliancenews.com

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