The blue-chip FTSE 100 rose 1.6% at 1044 GMT, while the midcap FTSE 250 climbed 1.8%
International News via Reuters:
London’s main indexes climbed on Wednesday after U.S. President Donald Trump signalled that the Iran war could end soon, prompting investors to scale back expectations for further interest rate hikes by the Bank of England.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 rose 1.6% at 1044 GMT, while the midcap FTSE 250 climbed 1.8%. On Tuesday, both indexes marked their biggest monthly drop since 2020 on fears that the war-led increase in oil prices will stoke inflation.* Trump and his Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the endof the war on Iran could be near, with Washington signallingpotential for both direct talks with Tehran’s leadership and awinding down of the conflict even without a deal. * Interest rate futures were fully pricing in one 25basis-point increase in the BoE’s bank rate by the end of 2026,and the possibility of a second compared with two or threehikes. * Most FTSE 350 sub-sectors traded higher, except energy,which fell 1% after oil slid more than 3% amid Middle Eastvolatility. [O/R] * Heavyweight banks rose 3.4%, providing the biggest boostto the benchmark index, with Standard Chartered, Lloyds BankingGroup and Barclays up between 3.4% and 4.1%. * Precious metal miners rose 4.7%, as gold rose onde-escalation hopes. [GOL/] * Britain’s food prices will be rising by almost 10% by theend of 2026 due to the Iran war, the country’s food and drinkmanufacturers’ lobby warned, around three times faster than itsprevious forecast. * British factory cost pressures soared in March, anddelivery delays – due to ships avoiding the Strait of Hormuz -were the longest since mid-2022, according to an S&P Globalsurvey. * Berkeley fell 15.1% after the home builder forecast thatprofit growth would slow through 2030. The firm said it wouldhalt land purchases as the war and the risk of higher interestrates dampen hopes of a housing market recovery.
Reporting by Tharuniyaa Lakshmi in Bengaluru; Editing by Harikrishnan Nair
