London midday: FTSE gains as Trump delays decision on MidEast involvement
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Friday 20 Jun 2025
(Sharecast News) - London stocks had extended gains by midday on Friday despite uninspiring UK data releases, as worries about possible US involvement in the Israel-Iran conflict abated.
The FTSE 100 was up 0.5% at 8,832.77.
Neil Wilson, UK investor strategist at Saxo Markets, said: "Some temporary relief but not enough for anyone to hang their hats on properly as the situation remains way too unpredictable. Trump has opened a two-week window for a diplomatic solution to the conflict between Israel and Iran - a move that has diminished some of the geopolitical risk premia affecting global markets heading into the weekend. European ministers are due to meet Iran's foreign minister in Geneva today to hash something out.
"Oil retreated along with gold and stocks rose a touch early on Friday as hopes for some kind of de-escalation permeated markets. Let's be clear though - stocks hadn't moved all that much in the first place given we're talking about an extreme tail risk of WW3 erupting that has a more-than-zero probability.
"Base case has started to shift in the direction of direct US involvement, which opens up a pandora's box of mess, but markets seem to be clinging to expectation that it all remains contained like it has in the past. The meeting today is material and could shift the needle - stay sharp."
On the UK macroeconomic front, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed the government borrowed more than expected in May.
Public sector net borrowing came in at £17.7bn. This was up £700m on May last year and £600m higher than the £17.1bn forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility.
Separate figures from the ONS showed that retail sales fell more than expected in May in what turned out to be a "dismal" month for supermarkets.
Retail sales fell 2.7% following a 1.3% increase in April, which was revised up from a 1.2% jump. Economists were expecting a much more modest 0.7% decline.
The data showed that sales volumes at food stores fell 5% in May following 4.7% growth the month before. This was the largest monthly drop since May 2021.
The ONS said the fall was due mainly to reduced sales volumes in supermarkets, with retailers pointing to inflation and customer cutbacks, alongside reduced sales of alcohol and tobacco products.
ONS senior statistician Hannah Finselbach said: "Retail sales fell sharply in May with their largest monthly fall since the end of 2023.
"This was mainly due to a dismal month for food retailers, especially supermarkets, following strong sales in April. Feedback suggested reduced purchases for alcohol and tobacco with customers choosing to make cutbacks.
"The falls were consistent across all sectors with clothing and household goods stores reporting slow trading due to reduced footfall. There was also decreased demand for DIY items as consumers took advantage of the good weather over the previous few months.
"Looking at the wider picture, retail sales are still up across the latest three-months as a whole."
There wasn't much happening on the corporate front, but shares in housebuilder Berkeley tumbled as it posted a 5% fall in annual earnings but said it was confident about the future against a backdrop of falling interest rates and government plans to ramp up supply using brownfield sites.
Full-year pre-tax profit came in at £529m, while new house sales rose to 4,047 from 3,521 in 2024.
The company also announced that finance chief Richard Stern would become CEO, succeeding Rob Perrins, who will take on the role of executive chair as chairman Michael Dobson steps down in September after the group's annual general meeting.
Persimmon, Barratt Redrow, Taylor Wimpey, Vistry and Bellway all fell.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 8,832.77 0.47%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 21,226.76 0.72%
techMARK (TASX) 5,033.09 0.22%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Melrose Industries (MRO) 517.00p 3.54%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,185.50p 2.86%
Entain (ENT) 855.40p 2.25%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 77.66p 2.18%
Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 20,110.00p 1.85%
Admiral Group (ADM) 3,462.00p 1.82%
Barclays (BARC) 325.50p 1.80%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 351.10p 1.77%
Hiscox Limited (DI) (HSX) 1,284.00p 1.74%
Glencore (GLEN) 288.50p 1.73%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,798.00p -8.48%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 361.80p -1.20%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,306.50p -1.02%
easyJet (EZJ) 517.20p -0.84%
BP (BP.) 389.95p -0.76%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 1,136.50p -0.61%
Barratt Redrow (BTRW) 457.80p -0.56%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 118.45p -0.46%
Halma (HLMA) 3,112.00p -0.45%
Shell (SHEL) 2,687.50p -0.39%
FTSE 250 - Risers
THG (THG) 27.84p 6.02%
Foresight Solar Fund Limited (FSFL) 85.60p 3.88%
Paragon Banking Group (PAG) 927.00p 3.58%
International Workplace Group (IWG) 203.20p 3.30%
Trainline (TRN) 288.60p 3.29%
Carnival (CCL) 1,575.50p 3.07%
Hays (HAS) 65.15p 2.92%
OSB Group (OSB) 506.00p 2.68%
Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 365.00p 2.53%
Pagegroup (PAGE) 245.00p 2.51%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
NCC Group (NCC) 141.60p -3.41%
Vistry Group (VTY) 627.00p -2.15%
Syncona Limited NPV (SYNC) 92.10p -1.29%
AO World (AO.) 94.20p -1.05%
Ruffer Investment Company Ltd Red PTG Pref Shares (RICA) 282.50p -0.70%
Volution Group (FAN) 602.00p -0.66%
Dunelm Group (DNLM) 1,164.00p -0.51%
Pacific Horizon Inv Trust (PHI) 591.00p -0.51%
Bellway (BWY) 2,808.00p -0.43%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 271.90p -0.40%
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