- FTSE 100 up 3 points at 10,371
- Oil price rises on Iran-Israel airstrikes
- US rate hike expectations also weigh on markets
4.14pm: Can FTSE make it a three-day run?
With only a few minutes left in the day, it's touch-and-go whether London's blue chips can extend their positive run to a third session in a row.
The index has swung between red and green all day, wavering between a loss of 48 and a gain of almost 34 points.
On mainland Europe, the DAX has been underwater all day, but the pan-continental Euro Stoxx 600 is close to dry land.
Tate & Lyle topped the risers across Europe today, up almost 15% after agreeing to be taken over.
It is followed by some Italian banks, tech giants STMicroelectronics, ASML and BE Semiconductor, and jewellery group Pandora.
There are no London names among the top losers, which are led by Zealand Pharma, plunging 23% after partner Boehringer Ingelheim said a late stage trial showed almost a fifth of patients suffered side-effects in its obesity drug trial.
3.50pm: Woodford blocked
The Financial Conduct Authority has launched civil proceedings against former fund manager Neil Woodford and W4.0, alleging they have been providing regulated investment advice and issuing financial promotions without authorisation.
W4 is an investment research and subscription platform launched by Woodford after the collapse of his former Woodford Investment Management business.
The regulator claims the activity was conducted through the subscription platform w4pz.com and breaches UK financial services rules.
The FCA is seeking an injunction to stop the alleged activity.
3.32pm: Uber and AMD
Some more US tech stories.
Advanced Micro Devices, the Nasdaq chips giant better known as AMD, has announced plans as part of London Tech Week to make £2 billion of investments in Britain over the next five years, including a project to build a supercomputer aimed at nuclear fusion.
Chief executive Lisa Su says the company is planning to “expand access to the compute infrastructure needed to advance sovereign AI" in the UK.
This will include a project to build the Zenith supercomputer at the University of Cambridge, helping with a government-backed Sunrise supercomputer that is being built now to focus on nuclear fusion research, in collaboration with the UK Atomic Energy Authority.
Elsewhere, Uber's pursuit of Delivery Hero "faces a fresh" challenge in the form of a Saudi Arabia startup, according the FT.
The newspaper is reporting that quick-commerce group Ninja is considering a bid for some of the Frankfurt-listed group's Middle East assets.
2.48pm: US semi stocks rebound
US tech stocks have led a Wall Street rebounded in early trading, with a sharp recovery in semiconductor stocks the key after they had been to the front on Friday's heavy sell-off.
The Nasdaq is up 1.3%, while the S&P 500 has gained 0.9% and the Dow Jones 0.4%.
Chipmakers were at the forefront of the rally. Micron Technology and Intel both surged around 10%, while Marvell Technology also gained 10% on news it will join the S&P 500 index.
Applied Materials, Lam Research, KLA and ASML all rose between 5% and 6%.
The recovery comes after Friday's brutal shakeout in technology stocks, when the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index suffered its biggest one-day decline since 2020.
The FTSE 100 is totally flat as gains in US tech do not provide much read-across to London's more defensive, commodity-heavy market.
1.35pm: European equities still look good, says JPM
JPMorgan remains positive on equities despite the recent volatility, arguing investors should "use the dips caused by adverse geopolitical news to add into" markets rather than retreat.
The bank has also advised clients to "start looking at Low Vol part of the market", saying such stocks should find support "irrespective of where bond yields go from here".
While warning that the Iran conflict "retains potential to escalate", strategists believe "both sides have an incentive to come to terms eventually".
Looking further ahead, JPMorgan expects Europe to "break out to fresh highs" in the second half of the year, helped by lower geopolitical risks, potential "green shoots in China" and increasing confidence that "rates and yields are not likely to spike".
Looking at trading at the end of last week, Morgan Stanley strategists have also been giving their views.
Morgan Stanley's Mike Wilson said the sell-off was concentrated in semiconductor stocks, where gains had become increasingly stretched.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell 10%, its biggest one-day drop since 2020.
Wilson said crowded positioning and leveraged ETFs amplified the decline from "an exceptionally extended" starting point, having risen 96% year to date by the middle of last week, and "around 35% above its 50-day moving average, the widest gap in around 25 years".
12.53pm: Oil falls on Iran statement
Oil prices have fallen after Iran said it has completed its part of the latest tit-for-tat attacks with Israel.
Brent crude dropped from near $98 a barrel just after 9am to just over $94 now, a gain still of 1.3% today.
Iran's Fars news agency said Tehran has declared the end of its military operations against Israel.
At least one side of the tit has been tatted apparently. *IRAN DECLARES END OF MILITARY OPERATIONS AGAINST ISRAEL: FARS — George Pearkes (@peark.es) June 8, 2026 at 12:19 PM
11.46am: Balfour and Rev Beauty analysis
Shares in Balfour Beatty are up almost 2% today after confirmation that the monitorship of its US military housing business has formally concluded.
As a reminder, monitorship was imposed after BB's US Communities arm agreed in 2021 to pay US$65.4 million in fines and restitution and pleaded guilty to fraud linked to performance incentive fees earned under contracts won between 2013 and 2019.
Today's news is "a positive development," says analyst Graham Hunt at Jefferies, as the monitorship "has been a significant drag on profits", with the infrastructure investments division reporting a loss of £31 million last year.
Balfour expects this division to recover to a small loss in 2026 and return to £10-20 million profit in 2027.
"While we do not expect consensus to change, the formal ending of what has been a difficult chapter in Balfour's history should be seen as a net positive."
Elsewhere, analyst Wayne Brown at Panmure Liberum has some comments on Revolution Beauty, after it won a deal with Debenhams/Asos, where it will develop beauty and fragrance products for brands like PrettyLittleThings and Karen Millen.
Asos/Debs' plan to become an asset-light model "takes many forms but the principle of monetising its IP, leveraging the power of its brands and providing more reasons for its customer to interact with its many marketplaces and websites is tangible," says Brown.
He notes that group is back in revenue growth, debt is falling, margins are expanding and licensing deals such as this one "are tangible levers to drive growth on further".
11.21am: FTSE clambers into the green
The FTSE 100 has turned positive for the first time today.
With explosions reported in Tehran as Israel and Iran trade airstrikes, and oil prices only just over $3 from $100 a barrel it might seem counterintuitive to stock market newbies.
However, the London index is being carried on the gains of several heavyweights, not just 1% rises for oil giants Shell and BP.
British American Tobacco is top of the leaderboard, up 2.6%, with sector peer Imperial Brands up 0.8%, with others on the leaderboard including Hiscox, BT Group, BAE Systems, Prudential, Aviva and HSBC.
11.02am: Interest rates not likely to rise due to Iran war, says BoE's Taylor
Bank of England policymaker Alan Taylor has signalled that the war in Iran is unlikely on its own to trigger higher UK interest rates, arguing that borrowing costs are already restrictive at 3.75%.
Taylor, one of the more dovish members of the BoE's monetary policy committee before the outbreak of the conflict, told Sky News: "I think interest rates don't need to go higher as they're quite restrictive at the moment. I feel comfortable where we are unless we get the worst-case scenario."
He added: "It's a very volatile world right now."
Taylor said a sustained surge in energy prices would represent the main risk to the inflation outlook.
Speaking during a visit to HS2's Birmingham Curzon Street station, he noted that higher costs for steel, copper, concrete and other materials were already feeding through supply chains.
His comments suggest the Bank remains focused on monitoring the economic fallout from the Middle East conflict rather than responding immediately with tighter monetary policy.
10.44am: FTSE 250 - the final frontier?
Seraphim Space Investment Trust has published a celebratory note to highlight its promotion to the FTSE 250 index from the end of next week, which had first been flagged last week.
Chair Will Whitehorn says it "marks a significant milestone" and is "a clear reflection of the progress we have made in scaling the company over the last five years and demonstrating the attractiveness of SpaceTech as an institutional asset class".
"We believe this inclusion will further enhance the Company's visibility, improve liquidity and support continued growth in our shareholder base."
10.23am: Greed and fear from mega-cap IPOs
Investors have been at risk becoming distracted by AI enthusiasm, says Jefferies strategist Christopher Wood, arguing that that markets were overlooking renewed geopolitical risks in Iran and Ukraine.
Writing in his 'GREED & fear' note, Wood says energy remains the most practical hedge against escalating tensions, as UK investors have been doing with Shell and BP.
Wood also highlights a potentially bigger market issue: planned IPOs from companies such as SpaceX, Anthropic and OpenAI.
Proposed changes to US index inclusion rules will fast-track SpaceX stocks into benchmarks, forcing passive funds to buy the shares up to their proportion of the relevant weighting, with similar also perhaps happening with Anthropic and OpenAI.
"The pending IPOs raise the obvious question whether this marks the peak of AI euphoria. It could well do.
"The almost infantile glee with which some grown adults rave about their experiences playing with AI clearly raises that possibility, as does the commencement of the reaction against tokenmaxxing.
"Still what is clear is that these pending IPOs will suck liquidity out of other stocks, most particularly given the self-reinforcing dynamics of passive investing.
"The most vulnerable stocks should logically be those which have drawn the highest incremental inflows of late, which are the AI picks and shovels plays, as well as of course the hyperscalers given their sheer size."
9.36am: Quiet day for large company news
It's a quiet day in terms of news from FTSE 350 companies, so I have been casting the net deeper for snippets of news.
Greggs has appointed a new non-exec from Mars's pet food arm - could this signal a new direction?
Ikdeep Singh, who is joining as an independent non-executive director, is currently global president of Mars Pet Nutrition, a division of Mars' $30 billion pets business.
Chair Matt Davies highlights "significant leadership experience in global consumer businesses, together with strong operational and digital expertise."
Elsewhere, Fattal Hotels has clarified that its proposed £22-a-share bid for PPHE Hotels would be made by Fattal Hotels Ltd, which already owns 1.66 million PPHE shares.
The update from the Tel Aviv-based hotel group appears largely procedural, addressing Takeover Code requirements around share purchases and bidder identity rather than signalling any change in valuation.
The proposed price still implies a 47% premium to PPHE's unaffected share price, though investors are again reminded that no firm offer has yet emerged.
8.59am: Oil and US rates send gold to lowest this year
Oil prices have eased slightly after kissing $98 for Brent around 8am.
Developments this morning include Yemen's Houthis confirming that they have launched missiles towards Israel and announcing a renewed ban on Israeli-linked shipping in the Red Sea.
The development came after Israel and Iran exchanged fresh airstrikes overnight, with some reports that there had been 30 rockets fired since Sunday.
Israel launched missiles at targets in central and western Iran after missile launches from Tehran, while Iranian media reported explosions in several cities including Tehran and Isfahan.
This was despite reports from the US that Donald Trump had urged Benjamin Netanyahu not to retaliate over Iran’s launches against Israel.
Investors are also monitoring rhetoric from Iranian officials, who warned that resistance groups have the capability to disrupt traffic through both waterways.
Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson said that overnight developments will only worsen the chaotic situation of the diplomatic process with the US.
"Things have got worse again," says market analyst Neil Wilson at Saxo, who echoes the wider view that for markets this is far from just linked to the Middle East but also rising bets that the US Federal Reserve will raise rates this year, following the stronger-than-expected non-farm payrolls report.
Israel and Iran trading strikes is "testing the fragile US-Iran ceasefire and knocking confidence in an already fragile market".
Also on oil, OPEC+ raised its output target by 188,000 barrels per day from July, the fourth increase in as many months, Wilson notes, "but it’s kind of irrelevant as long as exports are choked off".
"The escalation has also pressured government bonds with the UK 10yr gilt yield approaching 5% again as the longer the conflict persists the worse the inflation outlook."
Gold is down 0.9% to below $4300 an ounce for the first time since December, while the US dollar is up, with the DXY index trading above 100 again for the first time since April.
8.21am: Tate & Lyle jumps, Audioboom fizzles
Tate & Lyle shares have opened up 13% to 554.45p after directors recommended a takeover offer from a US rival.
Meanwhile, on AIM, Audioboom is down 17% after saying it had turned three suitors away after their offers were deemed insufficient.
8.15am: Tech funds and airlines lead FTSE lower at open
The FTSE 100 has opened lower than expected, as oil giants Shell and BP have combined with defensive names to offset wider losses.
In opening trades, the index dropped over 40 points, but has already cut this to a loss of 32 points at 10,336.19.
Biggest fallers are Polar Capital Technology Trust, down 3.3% as it plays catch-up after the sizeable falls on the Nasdaq at the end of last week, along with the Asian sell-off this morning.
Scottish Mortgage is down 2.3%, while Aberdeen Asia, Allianz Technology and Pacific Horizon investment trusts are all down over 2%.
Aerospace and airlines are also hit this morning, with suppliers Melrose Industries and Rolls-Royce down 2.5-2%, with a similar fall for British Airways owner IAG.
7.56am: Two takeover stories
Two takeover stories to start the morning's company news.
First is that Tate & Lyle has agreed to a £2.7 billion takeover by US ingredients group Ingredion, confirming a deal that was first announced a month ago.
Including allowed dividends, the offer is worth up to 615p per share, which is the same as was tabled last month.
Elsewhere, podcasting group Audioboom has ended its strategic review and terminated discussions with potential bidders after concluding that indicative takeover proposals failed to reflect its value and growth prospects.
It said three parties that had been carrying out due diligence submitted non-binding cash offer proposals since February. However, following strong trading in recent months, the board decided the approaches undervalued the business.
A short but upbeat trading update was also issued, saying the strong momentum reported in the first quarter has continued into the second.
7.31am: US rates also exerting pressure on markets
Aftyer the sharp selloff in stocks at the end of last week saw the Nasdaq endure largest daily drop in a year, and an Iran-Israel ceasefire potentially in ruins, many investors will be asking if the stock market sell-off will continue this week, says Kathleen Brooks at XTB.
The Nasdaq lost nearly 5% and the S&P 500 plunged 2.6% on Friday, with the US benchmark losing 2% over the week, bringing an abrupt end to its nine-week winning streak.
"The selloff came after US markets made record highs earlier in the week, and was triggered by jitters about AI stock valuations, and a rapid repricing of interest rate expectations for the Federal Reserve, after May’s blowout jobs report," says Brooks, after new payroll numbers rose by 172,000, far exceeding the 85,000 expected.
While Asian stocks have fallen sharply, Brooks notes "signs of stabilization in the US", with Nasdaq futures are currently pointing to a positive open and the S&P and Dow Jones both poised to open only slightly lower, while European indices are pointing to losses.
"We expect European and Asian indices to take their cue from the US later today," she says.
"There is now a 50% chance of a rate hike from the Fed by the end of the year, even though a large increase in jobs was accompanied by cooling annual wage growth from 3.6% to 3.4%.
"The market is focusing on the job number rather than wage growth, and this has shifted the dial for financial markets. While stocks sold off, US Treasury yields jumped last week.
"The 2-year Treasury yield rose by 13bps, while the 10-year yield rose 10bps. The sell off in Treasuries spread to other sovereign bonds, with UK and Europe joining in the selloff."
FTSE 100 market pre-open
Blue-chip indices in London and across Europe are set to fall sharply at the start of the week as oil prices have spiked and stocks in Asia plunged after Israel and Iran exchanged strikes.
The FTSE 100 has been called 84 points lower for Monday's open, after it ended last week on a mildly positive note, up around eight points at 10,368.05, finishing roughly flat over the five days of trading.
Germany's DAX and France's CAC are set for even larger falls, while Asian markets have tumbled overnight and this morning, with the Kospi plunging 8.2% in Seoul, the Nikkei plummeting 4.2% in Tokyo, and the benchmarks for Shanghai and Hong Kong sliding 2.1% and 1.7%.
Brent crude prices were ramped up 4.7% to $97.47 a barrel so far this morning after Israel launched airstrikes on several sites in Iran, defying public calls from Donald Trump after he urged Jerusalem not to respond to Tehran's attacks on Lebanon that were a retaliation to Israel bombing a target in southern Beirut.
It was the first direct strikes between Iran and Israel since a ceasefire of sorts was agreed in April, with the Revolutionary Guard warning yesterday of "a full week of continuous strikes".
However, pointed out Deutsche Bank's Jim Reid, "there are also signs that the sides are looking to avoid a full escalation," with a report from Axios that Israel's strikes were “relatively limited” and Iranian state media denying that it launched a strike towards a US airbase in Saudi Arabia.
"The de-escalatory tone appears particularly evident from the US side, with Trump reportedly urging Israel not to strike back earlier last night," says Reid.,
Recent quotes from Trump "sound like a President who really doesn't want this war to escalate any further and is trying to find all ways to avoid it", though events of the past 24 hours "have further complicated the chances of an imminent deal".
