Wednesday 26 August 2026 6:30 am
| Updated:
Wednesday 26 August 2026 8:51 am
Welcome back to City AM’s FTSE 100 live blog (Peter Byrne/PA Wire)
Welcome back to the City AM FTSE 100 liveblog.
The UK’s blue-chip index has slipped on Wednesday morning, dragged down by oil majors BP and Shell in response to a continued slide in oil prices.
Brent crude – the international benchmark – fell by more than two per cent on Wednesday to $86 per barrel, extending this week’s losses. On Tuesday night, Pakistan’s army chief said significant progress was being made towards a US-Iran peace deal.
Reports that Iran and Oman are nearing a deal to secure an “interim” reopening of the Strait of Hormuz are a further sign that oil price pressures could begin to ease.
Dan Coatsworth, AJ Bell’s head of markets, said: “Despite the pressure lower oil prices put on the shares of index heavyweights BP and Shell, the FTSE 100 managed to make some progress [on Tuesday]. It was supported by gains in the retail, aviation and housebuilding sectors.
“These areas have typically been beneficiaries when hopes of a resolution to the Iran conflict emerge, given the implications for inflation and borrowing costs if shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz are unblocked.”
This morning, energy regulator Ofgem hiked its cap on household bills by four per cent to an annual bill of £1,723, putting fresh pressure on Andy Burnham’s cost-of-living agenda.
The new price cap, which will cover the three months from October, comes as the Iran war and its global impact on energy prices rumbles on. Economists said last quarter’s price cap rise contributed to higher UK inflation.
Across the Atlantic, the emerging trade war between the US and Canada was taken up a notch overnight. Canada’s finance minister unveiled a $20bn package of retaliatory tariffs against its neighbour after President Trump stepped up his rhetorical attacks on his northern neighbour.
We’ll be bringing you the latest market updates and analysis.
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As it happened: Oil prices tumble as Bessent says US-Iran deal imminent; miner stocks rally
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