![\"ftse](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/82d19d32231cdc710c6702a5604046ed.png\")
ftse 100 sign \u00a9Metro Centric <\/p>\n ftse 100 sign \u00a9Metro Centric <\/p>\n
UK equities moved lower on Friday, with the FTSE 100 retreating as geopolitical tensions intensified following Donald Trump\u2019s decision to maintain a naval blockade on Iranian ports. Oil prices remained near multi-year highs, while diplomatic efforts between Washington and Tehran showed little sign of progress.<\/p>\n
As of 07:24 GMT, the FTSE 100 was down 0.36% at 10,341.54. Major European markets, including those in Germany and France, were closed for the May Day public holiday.<\/p>\n
Oil Tensions Persist as Strait of Hormuz Outlook Uncertain <\/p>\n
Trump reaffirmed his commitment to the blockade, amid concerns that the Strait of Hormuz could remain closed for an extended period.<\/p>\n
\u201cTheir economy is crashing, the blockade is incredible,\u201d he told reporters at the White House. \u201cTheir economy is a disaster. So we\u2019ll see how long they hold out.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also suggested energy prices could fall sharply once hostilities ease. \u201cThe gas will go down,\u201d Trump said. \u201cAs soon as the war is over, it\u2019ll drop like a rock.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Axios, Trump received briefings from senior military officials, including Admiral Brad Cooper and General Dan Caine, on potential contingency strike plans aimed at breaking the diplomatic deadlock.<\/p>\n
Escalating Rhetoric from Iran <\/p>\n
Iranian leadership signalled a firm stance, with supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei vowing to maintain nuclear and missile capabilities. President Masoud Pezeshkian described the blockade as \u201cintolerable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei cautioned that expectations for rapid diplomatic progress were \u201cnot very realistic,\u201d while a senior Revolutionary Guards figure warned of \u201clong and painful strikes\u201d against U.S. positions if tensions escalate further.<\/p>\n
Tariff Move on UK Whisky Adds Diplomatic Twist <\/p>\n
In a separate development, Trump announced the removal of tariffs on UK whisky following a state visit by King Charles III.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe King and Queen got me to do something nobody else was able to do,\u201d he wrote on Truth Social.<\/p>\n
UK Market Round-Up <\/p>\n
NatWest Group (LSE:NWG) reported a 12% rise in first-quarter profit to \u00a32 billion, beating expectations and upgrading its full-year income outlook toward the upper end of its \u00a317.2\u2013\u00a317.6 billion range.<\/p>\n
Bank of Ireland (LSE:BIRG) reaffirmed its full-year guidance after net loans increased at an annualised 5% to \u20ac83.6 billion, while its non-performing exposure ratio improved to 2%.<\/p>\n
Pearson (LSE:PSON) posted a 4% rise in underlying first-quarter sales, supported by strong demand for virtual learning, and said it remains on track to meet full-year targets.<\/p>\n
Data from BDO showed UK discretionary retail sales on a like-for-like basis fell 1.6% in April, marking the weakest performance in a decade outside the pandemic, as higher fuel costs and subdued consumer confidence weighed on spending.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Nationwide Building Society reported that UK house prices rose 0.4% in April and were 3% higher year-on-year, although surveyors highlighted softer demand and the broadest monthly decline in prices since January 2024 during March.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ftse 100 sign \u00a9Metro Centric UK equities moved lower on Friday, with the FTSE 100 retreating as geopolitical…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":92869,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[2290,22244,38,2272,34,10060,261,101,32806],"class_list":{"0":"post-92868","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-iran","8":"tag-brad-cooper","9":"tag-diplomatic-efforts","10":"tag-donald-trump","11":"tag-ftse-100","12":"tag-iran","13":"tag-naval-blockade","14":"tag-oil-prices","15":"tag-strait-of-hormuz","16":"tag-uk-equities"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116499653968919058","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92868","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92868"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92868\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92869"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92868"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}