Business
FTSE 100 up as latest peace talk claims weighed
The FTSE 100 made strong progress on Monday, despite continued oil price strength, on renewed hopes for a peace deal in the Middle East.
The FTSE 100 closed up 160.61 points, 1.6%, at 10,127.96.
The FTSE 250 ended down 10.25 points, 0.1%, at 20,954.50, and the Aim All-Share advanced 4.49 points, 0.6%, at 710.12.
On Monday, US President Donald Trump wrote on his Truth Social network that the US is in “serious discussions” with “a more reasonable regime” in Tehran, the Iranian capital.
In addition, US secretary of state Marco Rubio voiced hope for working with elements within Iran’s government, saying the US privately had received positive messages.
Mr Rubio said there were internal “fractures” inside the Islamic republic and that the US hoped that figures with “power to deliver” take charge.
“We are hopeful that that’s the case,” Mr Rubio told ABC News programme Good Morning America.
Meanwhile, Pakistan on Sunday said it was ready to broker and host “meaningful talks” between Washington and Tehran to end the war.
But Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said the US was “secretly planning a ground attack”.
Mr Trump warned if a deal is not reached shortly then the US will blow up and obliterate all Iran’s electric generating plants, oil wells and Kharg Island.
In another concerning development, Yemen’s Houthi movement confirmed it had fired ballistic missiles at Israeli military sites in support of Iran and allied Hezbollah forces.
JPMorgan analyst Natasha Kaneva said while the Houthi involvement is “not yet decisive, it introduces a second maritime pressure point in the Red Sea, alongside the Strait of Hormuz”.
“In effect, two major corridors of global energy trade are exposed simultaneously, narrowing rerouting options and increasing system-wide supply-chain risk,” she noted.
Ms Kaneva said in practical terms, that places roughly five million barrels of oil per day of Saudi Arabia bypass capacity at risk, a vulnerability that could add 20 dollars (£15) per barrel to oil prices.
Brent oil traded higher at 112.46 dollars a barrel on Monday afternoon, from 111.63 dollars late on Friday.
Reflecting the increased oil price, shares in oil majors BP and Shell rose 3.1% and 2.0% respectively.
On the FTSE 250, oil and gas exploration firms Ithaca Energy and Harbour Energy firmed 2.6% and 2.7% respectively.
In London, bosses from energy, shipping and banking firms met with Primer Minister Sir Keir Starmer to discuss Iran’s ongoing blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
The summit at No 10 is expected to be followed by a Cobra meeting on Tuesday, where senior ministers will discuss the ongoing economic hit caused by the war.
“We are bringing together the shipping sector, insurance and energy, because obviously that’s a focus of concern,” Sir Keir said.
“I will have a Cobra tomorrow, another Cobra, to look at the economic impacts of the war and making sure that everything that we need to have in place, everything is monitored and audited properly,” he added.
In European equities on Monday, the Cac 40 in Paris closed up 0.9%, while the Dax 40 in Frankfurt ended 1.2% higher.
Stocks in New York were higher.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.7%, the S&P 500 index was 0.3% higher, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.1%.
Amid the equity market gains, AJ Bell head of financial analysis Danni Hewson said markets remain nervous.
“Comments from President Trump about seizing Iranian oil and the country’s Kharg Island export hub, a build-up of US troops and the involvement of Tehran-backed Houthis in the war all create the impression of a conflict that is escalating rather than drawing to a close,” she said.
The yield on the US 10-year Treasury narrowed to 4.34% on Monday from 4.42% on Friday.
The yield on the US 30-year Treasury fell to 4.90% from 4.95%.
The pound fell to 1.3191 dollars on Monday afternoon from 1.3288 dollars at the equities close on Friday.
Against the euro, sterling fell to 1.1518 euros from 1.1554 euros.
The euro stood lower against the greenback at 1.1452 dollars from 1.1521 dollars.
Against the yen, the dollar was trading lower at 159.53 yen compared to 160.10 yen.
Gold rose to 4,541.34 dollars an ounce on Monday from 4,517.90 dollars at the same time on Friday.
On the FTSE 100, Marks & Spencer rose 1.9% as Worldpanel data for the 12 weeks to March 1 showed clothing sales growth accelerated to 3.2% year-on-year from 1.0% in the prior period.
In addition, the London-based clothing, food and homeware retailer said on Sunday its fashion products will be sold for the first time in the US after it agreed a deal with department store Nordstrom.
Rio Tinto rose 3.5% as it said its iron ore port operations have resumed, after tropical cyclone Narelle passed over Western Australia’s Pilbara region.
The miner said recent weather events have impacted iron ore shipments by around 8 million tonnes, but that it has a pathway to recover about half of the losses.
Rio Tinto’s Pilbara iron ore shipment guidance for 2026 remains unchanged at 323 million to 338 million tonnes.
Land Securities rose 3.8% as Goldman Sachs upgraded to “buy” from “neutral” noting valuations in the sector are back close to 2009 levels.
But the rising oil price weighed on British Airways owner, International Consolidated Airlines, down 1.9%, while Asia-focused insurer Prudential fell 0.5%.
Elsewhere, boohoo rose 2.4% as it hailed stronger-than-expected trading in financial 2026, and provided upbeat guidance for the year ahead.
The Manchester-based fast fashion e-retailer, which trades as Debenhams, said it expects financial 2027 adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation to grow at a double-digit percentage rate.
It also expects a significant improvement in free cash flow resulting from “materially lower exceptional costs”.
“Our multi-year turnaround strategy continues at pace,” said chief executive Dan Finley.
“There has been clear progress in Debenhams, and management, who are well incentivised, appear motivated to return the business back to growth,” said Shore Capital analyst Katie Cousins.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Burberry Group, up 46.5p at 1,073.0p, London Stock Exchange Group, up 356.0p at 8,602.0p, Centrica, up 8.6p at 210.5p, British Land, up 13.4p at 356.6p and Land Securities, up 20.0p at 552.0p.
The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Antofagasta, down 105.0p at 3,161.0p, International Consolidated Airlines, down 6.7p at 349.5p, Airtel Africa, down 5.4p at 347.8p, Lion Finance, down 140.0p at 9,185.0p and Reckitt Benckiser, down 62.0p at 5,102.0p.
Tuesday’s global economic calendar has GDP figures in Canada and the UK, French and Italian CPI data, and house price reports in the US.
Tuesday’s local corporate calendar has full year results from Irn-Bru maker AG Barr and mini-computer manufacturer Raspberry Pi.
– Contributed by Alliance News
Six supermarket brand eggs cost £1 in 2022. How much are they now, why have they gone up, and is anyone profiteering?
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Travelers walk through the terminal at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on May 1, 2026.
Leslie Josephs | CNBC
Higher fuel prices are testing how badly consumers want to travel this summer, whether flying or driving.
Airfare hasn’t been this high since May 2022, when airlines stumbled out of the pandemic with aircraft and employee shortages to face hordes of consumers ready for “revenge travel.” Gasoline is above $4 a gallon and could get closer to $5 a gallon this summer, AAA warned this week.
Jet fuel prices doubled in the span of less than three months this year after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran, kicking off a conflict that has left a key shipping channel effectively closed.
Domestic round-trip airfares in April averaged $623, the highest in nearly four years, according to data from the Airlines Reporting Corporation, which tracks travel agency ticket sales. Jet fuel is the second-biggest expense for airlines after labor, and carriers say they are increasingly passing those costs along to customers.
Separately, airlines are also trimming their growth plans because of higher fuel costs. Even if a route isn’t cut, fewer flights on certain routes means that customers will have fewer seats to choose from and, with demand robust, that could drive up prices even more.
Spirit Airlines, the most famous budget carrier in the U.S., shut down earlier this month, and partially blamed jet fuel prices for its failure to emerge from near back-to-back bankruptcies. It was the biggest U.S. airline collapse in decades. Other airlines swooped in to snatch up those customers in the aftermath, but the carrier’s demise removes a main purveyor of low fares.
The fuel spikes have set the stage for higher fares and more expensive gas station visits this summer. The start of the peak travel season Memorial Day weekend will be a taste of how much travelers will shell out to fly while everything from groceries to clothing has become more expensive this year.
The Transportation Security Administration said it expects to screen 18.3 million people between Thursday and next Wednesday, compared with the 18.5 million it saw over a similar period last year.
Lackluster road trip growth
Road trips won’t be a bargain either. AAA this week forecast 39.1 million people will drive at least 50 miles between Thursday and Monday, up just 0.1% compared with last Memorial Day weekend. That was the least growth in a decade, AAA told CNBC.
Gasoline price site GasBuddy forecast this week that prices across the U.S. will average $4.48 on Memorial Day, up from $3.14 last year, and that prices could average $4.80 through Labor Day “if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed for a significant portion of the summer.”
A customer fills his vehicle with fuel at a gas station in Miami, April 13, 2026.
Joe Raedle | Getty Images
Still flying
Leisure travel intentions in the U.S. were slightly lower in March — at 82.8% compared with 83.1% the same month a year earlier — though they are still relatively high, UBS said in a note Monday.
“We believe the year-over-year moderation in travel intentions this year was likely due to higher jet fuel and other geopolitical concerns,” UBS airline analyst Atul Maheswari wrote. He added that the intent to travel is near the highest points in the past nine years.
So far, airline executives said, customers are still booking, and executives are optimistic about the summer travel season. They’ve also said they’re expecting a boost from the FIFA World Cup, which will be held in June and July in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, and from major concerts such as Harry Styles’ residencies in Amsterdam and London this summer.
United Airlines said it expects to carry 53 million travelers between June and August, up 3 million people from last year. American Airlines has forecast 75 million customers between May 21 and Sept. 8, after Labor Day, topping its previous record, in 2019.
Refueling trucks at LaGuardia Airport in New York, April 23, 2026.
Zhang Fengguo | Xinhua News Agency | Getty Images
‘What are you waiting for?’
Airlines have been pruning their schedules and axing unprofitable or less profitable routes but have been eager to fill in the gaps after Spirit’s collapse.
Travelers can still find deals if they’re flexible, said Kyle Potter, who runs the Thrifty Traveler website. He recommended using tools such as the “Explorer” tool in Google Flights that allows users to look up destinations by the length of trip and by month in a map view.
He also suggested flyers consider traveling on a Tuesday or Wednesday, when fares and traffic are often lower.
“That, in many cases, can save you hundreds of dollars per ticket, and multiply that by a family of four,” he said.
He had a simple message for travelers sitting on piles of frequent flyer miles.
“Now is the time to use your miles or your credit card points or both,” he said, warning that miles can end up devalued. “What are you waiting for? I think a lot of people hoard their miles because they want to go to to Europe in 2027.”
— CNBC’s Contessa Brewer contributed to this report.
Business
‘Potential to diversify’: US state secretary Rubio pushes for US energy supplies to India in meeting with PM Modi
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio emphasised Washington’s intent to prevent geopolitical disruptions from distorting global energy markets, as tensions linked to the Iran conflict continue to affect oil supply routes and pricing dynamics.During discussions on energy security, Rubio’s office, quoted by Reuters, stressed that the US sees energy exports as a key instrument in strengthening partnerships, particularly with India, which remains a major crude importer navigating supply diversification challenges.In that context, Rubio said, “US energy products have the potential to diversify India’s energy supply.” He also emphasized a broader US position on global energy stability amid the Iran-related crisis, with his office adding, “the United States will not let Iran hold the global energy market hostage.”The remarks come as the Iran war has disrupted global energy flows and contributed to volatility in oil markets, complicating efforts by Washington to reduce India’s reliance on Russian crude imports. The instability has added a new layer of complexity to US energy diplomacy in Asia, where supply security has become increasingly central to strategic engagement.Officials indicated that the ripple effects of the conflict have not only impacted global pricing but also slowed parts of Washington’s broader effort to realign energy trade flows away from sanctioned or high-risk suppliers.Rubio’s comments were made alongside broader engagement in New Delhi, where he met Indian leadership to discuss energy cooperation, trade expansion under the “Mission 500” framework, and Indo-Pacific strategic alignment through the Quad.In earlier public remarks, Rubio had also signalled a more aggressive US commercial energy posture toward India, saying, “We want to sell them as much energy as they’ll buy.”Separately, he reiterated India’s importance in Washington’s strategic outlook, describing it as a key partner in shaping long-term regional stability while the US continues to manage the economic and geopolitical spillovers of the Iran conflict.
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