London, March 10, 2026, 11:08 GMT
London shares snapped a three-day losing run on Tuesday after oil prices pulled back and investors took heart from comments by U.S. President Donald Trump that the Middle East war could end soon. The FTSE 100, which tracks Britain’s biggest listed firms, was up 1.6% at 10,412.54. The FTSE 250 index of medium-sized companies rose 1.9%, and both were on course for their biggest one-day rise in nearly a year. Reuters
That matters because Monday’s oil shock had left UK stocks at about five-week lows and sharpened fears that higher energy costs could feed inflation again. The rebound only claws back part of the near-7% slide from the FTSE 100’s Feb. 27 record high, after three straight down days. Reuters
Crude did much of the work. Brent fell $6.75, or 6.8%, to $92.21 a barrel at 1012 GMT after jumping above $119 on Monday. DBS analyst Suvro Sarkar said there had been an “overreaction to the downside today”, while Phillip Nova analyst Priyanka Sachdeva said the “panic premium” had started to fade. Reuters
The move ran wider than London. Europe’s STOXX 600 index was up 2.3%, with financial stocks leading the rebound and travel and leisure shares recovering sharply, while energy names lagged as oil retreated. Reuters
Interest-rate expectations were still moving around. LSEG data showed investors saw a 98% chance the Bank of England would hold rates on March 19. Standard Chartered and Morgan Stanley both pushed their first expected cut into the second quarter as they reassessed the inflation hit from energy. Reuters
That leaves the domestic backdrop looking fragile. Barclays said UK consumer spending grew 1.1% in February after 0.8% in January, but the British Retail Consortium said sales growth slowed, and BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson warned the conflict could knock any retail recovery “off course.” Reuters
Among individual stocks, Persimmon stood out. The homebuilder said it expected 12,000 to 12,500 home completions this year and profit near the top end of analyst estimates, bucking recent pressure on Taylor Wimpey and Vistry. Chief executive Dean Finch said the effect of the Iran conflict on customer sentiment “remains to be seen,” while RBC Capital Markets analyst Anthony Codling said Persimmon was “doing the right things at the right time.” Reuters
Domino’s Pizza rose about 3% after saying Christmas momentum had carried into 2026 and backing its new fried chicken range to drive growth beyond pizza. Robinhood UK analyst Dan Lane said the group still had to “turn innovation into profit growth” as it faces heavy competition, including from Greggs. Reuters
But the relief trade could still unwind fast. Aramco chief executive Amin Nasser warned that any prolonged disruption in the Strait of Hormuz would have “catastrophic consequences” for oil markets and the wider economy, and about a fifth of global oil supply normally passes through that route each day. Reuters
For now, this looked more like a reprieve than a reset. Fiona Cincotta, senior market analyst at City Index, said markets were still “headline driven”, and broader trading backed that up as stocks rose, bond yields eased and oil swung hard again on every fresh signal from Washington and Tehran. Reuters
