(RTTNews) - The U.K. stock market's benchmark index FTSE 100 moved up sharply on Wednesday thanks to fairly strong buying across the board amid growing optimism about a de-escalation in tensions in the Middle East. Stocks from banking, mining and travel sectors moved up sharply.
U.S. President Donald Trump said he would end the Iran war without reopening the Strait of Hormuz, especially as the conflict looked set to extend beyond his initial four-to-six-week timeline.
Trump said the U.S. could end its Iran military campaign within the next three weeks, claiming that Washington had already achieved its core objectives of hobbling Iran's nuclear ambitions and bringing a regime change in the country.
Meanwhile, Iran said no formal peace talks were underway but signaled a wiliness to stop fighting and end the ongoing war if it gets credible guarantees that the attacks will not happen again.
The FTSE 100 rose to a two-week high, climbing to 10,389.80, gaining 313.35 points or 2.05%.
Compass Group surged 7.5%. Rolls Royce Holdings and Babcock International climbed 6.5% and 6.3%, respectively.
St. James's Place, IAG, Pershing Square Holdings, Polar Capital Technology Trust, Weir Group, Melrose Industries, Lion Finance, Prudential, M&G, 3i Group, Standard Life, Smiths Group, Legal & General, Entain, Informa and Spirax Group gained 3%-5.4%.
Miners Anglo American Plc, Antofagasta, Endeavour Mining and Fresnillo gained 5%-6%. Rio Tinto and Glencore moved up 2.7% and 1.1%, respectively.
Among bank stocks, Barclays and Lloyds Banking Group gained 5% and 4.8%, respectively. Natwest Group advanced 4.5%, HSBC Holdings moved up 4.3% and Standard Chartered climbed 3.5%.
GSK shares climbed more than 2%. The British drugmaker and Shionogi & Co. have completed a transaction restructuring the ownership of ViiV Healthcare.
Derwent London surged 2.3% after the real estate investment trust agreed to sell Horseferry House for £131.8 million. Online trading firm IG Group Holdings added 1.5% after launching a £125 million share buyback program.
Oil & gas giant BP Plc tumbled 2.7% and peer Shell declined 1.4% as Brent crude prices fell below $100 a barrel on signals from U.S. President Donald Trump to end the war in Iran.
Berkeley Group Holdings tanked more than 14% after the company gave a cautious management approach amid headwinds caused by war in the Middle East. The company now predicts cumulative profits for the next four-years of over £1.4 billion, a possible average of around £350 million per year compared with its previous estimate for profits of £450 million for the full year 2027.
Rightmove slid 3.7%, while Unilever drifted lower by about 2%.
Data from S&P Global showed the S&P Global UK Manufacturing PMI dropped to 51.0 in March from 51.7 in the previous month, revised downwards from the preliminary estimate of 51.4 but remaining firmly above the initial market expectation of 50.1.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
