FTSE 100 Drifts Lower On Higher Oil Prices, Weak PMI Data

(RTTNews) - The UK stock market's benchmark index FTSE 100, which climbed into positive territory after a weak start, slipped below the flat line a few minutes before noon on Thursday. Brent crude climbed to $107.11, gaining about 2% and stoking inflation fears amid escalating US-Iran tensions. President Donald Trump, who said negotiations were in the "final stages," threatened renewed attacks if Iran rejected his terms. The FTSE 100 rose to 10,442.46, was down 37.29 points or 0.36% at 10,395.05 nearly half an hour past noon. AutoTrader Group shares fell more than 8%. Convatec Group slipped 7.4%. BT Group dropped 3.4% after logging lower revenue for fiscal 2026 due to a decline in its international business. Whitbread, The Sage Group, Endeavour Mining, Imperial Brands, Rightmove, Burberry Group, Lloyds Banking Group, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Entain and Fresnillo lost 2%-3.4%. Weir Group, Marks & Spencer, HSBC Holding, Natwest Group, IAG, Rentokil Initial and Bunzl also shed notable ground. Mitchells & Butlers tanked more than 8% after reporting slower sales growth and flat underlying profits for the first half. ICG climbed 3.3%. IG Group Holdings moved up nearly 3%, while Babcock International and 3i Group gained 2.2% and 2%, respectively. SSE, National Grid, Centrica, Scottish Mortgage, Segro and United Utilities also posted strong gains. Banking and wealth management group Investec rallied more than 5% after reporting sharply higher annual profit for its latest fiscal year. Data from S&P Global showed the S&P Global UK Composite PMI fell to 48.5 in May from 52.6 in the previous month, reflecting the first decline in activity in over one year and firmly below market expectations of an expansion of 51.6, according to a preliminary estimate. The Services PMI dropped to 47.9 in May the lowest in over five years, from 52.7 in April. The Manufacturing PMI increased to 52.4 from 51.8. The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.