London open: Stocks nudge up ahead of US-Iran talks
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Friday 10 Apr 2026
(Sharecast News) - London stocks nudged up in early trade on Friday amid growing confusion over the US-Iran ceasefire ahead of peace talks this weekend.
At 0850 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 0.1% at 10,617.74. Brent crude was up 2% at $97.79 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate was 1.9% at 99.77.
Danske Bank said: "Peace talks between the US and Iran, mediated by the Pakistani prime minister, are scheduled to begin on Saturday, but tensions remain high due to disagreements over the agenda.
"Iran insists on its ten-point plan, which White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt claims President Trump 'literally threw in the garbage'. Further complicating the situation are disputes over whether the ceasefire terms should extend to Lebanon, after Israel's deadly attacks there on Wednesday."
Israeli attacks on Lebanon continued on Thursday, as Benjamin Netanyahu told his cabinet to start direct talks with the country "as soon as possible".
The Israeli prime minister said in a statement that the talks "will focus on disarming Hezbollah and establishing peaceful relations" between Israel and Lebanon. The announcement came a day after Israel launched its worst attack on Lebanon since the start of the conflict, hitting more than 100 targets in 10 minutes and leaving more than 300 people dead.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump criticised Iran's handling of the oil flow through the Strait of Hormuz, saying on Truth Social that Tehran was doing a "very poor job, dishonourable some would say" in allowing shipments through the strait.
He added: "That is not the agreement we have!"
Trump also wrote a post highlighting reports that Iran is charging fees to tankers going through the Hormuz Strait. He said: "They better not be and, if they are, they better stop now!"
Looking to the rest of the day, the US consumer price index for March will be in focus at 1330 BST.
ING said: "Today's key area worth watching outside of Middle East headlines will be the US CPI report for March. We are aligned with consensus in expecting a 0.9ppt monthly jump in headline CPI to 3.4% year-on-year, while core CPI should accelerate only modestly from 0.2% to 0.3% month-on-month.
"What matters for the Federal Reserve are second-round effects, visible - if anything - in core inflation after a few months from the initial energy shock. As such, today's release should not be a game‑changer for Fed pricing unless inflation surprises meaningfully on the upside."
On home shores, industry data showed that retail footfall ticked higher in March, boosted by the early timing of Easter.
According to the latest BRC-Sensormatic footfall monitor, total UK footfall rose by 2.4% in the five weeks from 1 March to 4 April. Easter Sunday fell on 5 April this year, whereas 2025's later timing meant the long weekend was included in BRC-Sensormatic's April reporting period.
The largest increase was seen at shopping centres, where footfall rose 2.6% year-on-year. Retail parks saw a 2.5% jump, while on high streets, footfall increased by 2%.
Andy Sumpter, retail consultant, EMEA, at Sensormatic, said: "March brought a welcome return to growth for UK retail footfall, the first positive month in nearly a year.
"On the surface, this marks an encouraging shift in momentum. However, the improvement needs to be viewed in context. Much of March's uplift was driven by an Easter boost; last year's comparison was also relatively weak due to the later timing of Easter, amplifying the apparent growth.
"Without the final week's Easter bump, March would likely have remained in negative territory."
Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, said: "With Easter and the school holidays falling earlier this year, retailers were expecting a stronger boost to footfall than March delivered. Warmer weather might help sustain footfall in the months ahead, but without an Easter uplift in April, momentum is far from guaranteed."
She added that conflict in the Middle East was weighing "heavily" on both retailer and consumer confidence, and warned that further pressure on the cost of living would likely hit footfall.
In equity markets, student accommodation provider Unite Group edged higher as it held annual guidance and said 74% of beds for the new academic year had been reserved.
The company said it still expected occupancy and rental growth at the lower end of 93-96% and 2-3% ranges for 2026/27 and was on track to deliver guidance for £300-400 million of asset disposals in 2026 as it focused on a pivot to what it called "the strongest universities".
AO World surged as it confirmed it remained on track to meet full-year guidance, despite "material" cost headwinds.
Updating on year-end trading, the white goods retailer said total group revenue growth was expected to be around 11% in the 12 months to 31 March, with adjusted pre-tax profits slated to come in at the top end of its £45m to £50m range.
Trustpilot gained as JPMorgan reiterated its 'overweight' stance on the shares. "With the shares having risen more than 30% on the day of the FY25 results, they are now -13% from recent highs, partly as a result of a recent block listing," the bank said.
"We think this presents an attractive entry point into a uniquely positioned AI winner set to potentially compound earnings and free cash flow well above sector-average rates."
Catering group Compass slumped after Frech peer Sodexo cut its 2026 guidance.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 10,617.74 0.13%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 22,321.32 0.52%
techMARK (TASX) 5,878.66 0.53%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 7,900.00p 3.05%
Convatec Group (CTEC) 230.40p 2.32%
Barratt Redrow (BTRW) 266.70p 2.07%
Kingfisher (KGF) 305.30p 1.87%
The Sage Group (SGE) 842.20p 1.84%
Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 4,154.00p 1.81%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,156.20p 1.80%
Rightmove (RMV) 440.40p 1.57%
Entain (ENT) 543.80p 1.46%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,913.50p 1.40%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Melrose Industries (MRO) 531.00p -2.99%
Compass Group 11 (CPG) 27.23p -2.97%
BP (BP.) 575.30p -1.10%
Schroders (SDR) 578.50p -0.60%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 5,158.00p -0.58%
Shell (SHEL) 3,437.50p -0.54%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 1,273.80p -0.53%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 1,272.50p -0.35%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 352.00p -0.34%
Anglo American (AAL) 3,433.00p -0.30%
FTSE 250 - Risers
AO World (AO.) 94.90p 6.76%
W.A.G Payment Solutions (EWG) 120.00p 5.45%
Trustpilot Group (TRST) 223.00p 4.81%
Mony Group (MONY) 164.00p 4.60%
Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 195.90p 2.93%
WPP (WPP) 251.00p 2.88%
GB Group (GBG) 196.85p 2.55%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 947.50p 2.54%
THG (THG) 31.50p 2.53%
Close Brothers Group (CBG) 427.80p 2.23%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
SDCL Efficiency Income Trust (SEIT) 41.50p -3.53%
Hilton Food Group (HFG) 510.50p -1.54%
Ithaca Energy (ITH) 248.20p -1.28%
Pacific Horizon Inv Trust (PHI) 911.00p -0.98%
GCP Infrastructure Investments Ltd (GCP) 76.00p -0.78%
Ibstock (IBST) 107.50p -0.74%
Endeavour Mining (EDV) 4,724.00p -0.71%
Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 264.00p -0.56%
Harbour Energy (HBR) 274.20p -0.51%
Pan African Resources (PAF) 152.36p -0.46%
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