Global equities bounced after the Wall Street Journal reported U.S. President Donald Trump told aides he would be willing to halt the military campaign against Iran even if the Strait of Hormuz stayed largely closed
International News via Reuters:
British stocks rose on Tuesday after a report said the U.S. was looking to bring the Middle East conflict to an end, but the main indexes were set for their worst monthly showing since 2020 as investors worried about the fallout from the war.
Global equities bounced after the Wall Street Journal reported U.S. President Donald Trump told aides he would be willing to halt the military campaign against Iran even if the Strait of Hormuz stayed largely closed.
The blue-chip index FTSE 100 rose 0.6% by 1057 GMT but was set to snap an eight‑month winning streak, while the mid-cap FTSE 250 climbed 1.1%, looking to end a three‑month run of gains.* Most sub-indexes were in the green, except energy, whichfell 0.3% after oil prices turned volatile as investors weighedthe possibility that the five-week-long war could end. [O/R] * Precious metals miners rose 2.2% and provided the biggestboost to the index as gold prices climbed, with investorsflocking to the safe haven amid inflation fears and expectationsof a hawkish monetary policy response. [GOL/] * British shop price inflation ticked up to 1.2% in March,with the BRC warning that Middle East conflict-related costpressures were starting to feed into supply chains and couldpush prices higher. * The Bank of England is closely monitoring food prices, aspublic inflation expectations rose to their highest level since2023 in March, reinforcing caution over the policy outlook. * Data from mortgage lender Nationwide showed that Britishhouse prices rose by more than expected in March, but thehousing market is likely to slow as an increase in borrowingcosts, triggered by the Iran war, impacts affordability. * Raspberry Pi soared 26.8% after the single-board computermaker posted better-than-expected rise in annual adjusted coreearnings. * Unilever rose 0.2% after the consumer goods firm said itwas in advanced talks to combine its food business with spicemaker McCormick in a potential deal that would deliver $15.7billion in cash and give shareholders majority control of themerged entity.
Reporting by Tharuniyaa Lakshmi in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid
