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London close: Stocks surge, oil drops as peace deal hopes boost sentiment

Fri 12 Jun 2026 16:20

(Sharecast News) - The FTSE 100 finished higher on Friday for the third straight day as hopes about an imminent peace deal between the US and Iran boosted market sentiment, with stocks in the heavyweight banking and mining sectors providing a big lift. The London benchmark index settled up 1.6% at 10,471.72, having now gained 2.4% over the past three sessions combined.

Stocks across Europe jumped early on while oil prices dropped after Donald Trump called off further strikes on Iran on Thursday and said a peace deal between the two countries could be signed in the coming days.

Trump said: "We just made a great settlement of the war with Iran, and we're going to be subject to finalisation of documents, which should get done over the next few days."

He said a signing ceremony could take place over the weekend, with the documents in a "pretty final shape". He also said the Strait of Hormuz "will officially open as soon as we sign, which could be soon, very soon".

Brent crude fell sharply as a result, dropping 3.7% to $87.03 a barrel, on track to settle at its lowest level since early March when the conflict began.

In addition to developments in the Middle East, investor attention was also fixed on Wall Street, with Elon Musk's SpaceX making its trading debut to much fanfare. The company sold 556m shares at $135 each, raising $75bn, valuing the firm just shy of $1.8trn.

On home shores, figures released by the Office for National Statistics showed the economy contracted 0.1% on the month in April, in line with expectations. This followed growth of 0.3% in March and 0.4% in February.

"Perhaps the most encouraging takeaway from today's figures is that investors may be able to look through them, provided the latest Iran deal developments prove lasting, paving the way for lower energy costs and a recovery in economic growth," said Axel Rudolph, chief technical analyst at IG.

Banks, miners and airlines jump

Banking and mining stocks benefited from a return in risk appetite as the macro outlook improved on the back of peace deal hopes. Among the best performers were Barclays, Anglo American, Endeavour Mining, Antofagasta and NatWest.

Barclays advanced as it announced the acquisition of children's money management platform GoHenry from US fintech group Acorns, as it looks to strengthen its youth banking proposition and deepen relationships with families and mass-affluent households.

Also in demand was BA and Iberia owner IAG and budget airline easyJet as falling oil prices eased concerns about fuel costs.

Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust - which has a large holding in SpaceX - rallied on the day of the rocket maker's IPO.

Defence firm BAE Systems was also in the red, while defensive utilities lost ground, with Centrica, SSE and National Grid all lower.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 10,471.72 1.63% FTSE 250 (MCX) 23,325.71 1.55% techMARK (TASX) 5,964.36 0.67%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Smurfit Westrock (DI) (SWR) 3,200.00p 8.73% International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 436.20p 7.07% Lion Finance Group (BGEO) 11,050.00p 5.94% Barclays (BARC) 472.85p 5.32% Anglo American (AAL) 4,002.00p 5.21% Fresnillo (FRES) 3,002.00p 5.11% Antofagasta (ANTO) 4,044.00p 4.88% Compass Group 11 (CPG) 34.18p 4.62% NATWEST GROUP (NWG) 614.20p 4.53% Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 1,308.00p 4.41%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 8,064.00p -3.33% BP (BP.) 534.50p -1.98% Shell (SHEL) 3,220.50p -1.69% BAE Systems (BA.) 1,911.00p -1.62% Centrica (CNA) 185.80p -1.04% Bunzl (BNZL) 2,538.00p -0.94% AstraZeneca (AZN) 13,462.00p -0.85% Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,133.00p -0.31% Halma (HLMA) 3,898.00p -0.26% Schroders (SDR) 583.00p -0.09%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Hochschild Mining (HOC) 536.50p 7.56% Ceres Power Holdings (CWR) 591.00p 6.01% SSP Group (SSPG) 171.80p 5.92% Pan African Resources (PAF) 109.00p 5.62% Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 1,080.00p 5.37% Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) 690.50p 5.10% Allianz Technology Trust (ATT) 726.00p 5.07% BlackRock World Mining Trust (BRWM) 976.00p 5.06% Endeavour Mining (EDV) 3,830.00p 4.96% TBC Bank Group (TBCG) 4,532.00p 4.96%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) 114.80p -4.33% Diversified Energy Company (DI) (DEC) 1,028.00p -3.56% Harbour Energy (HBR) 258.20p -3.30% Gamma Communications (GAMA) 929.50p -2.87% Ithaca Energy (ITH) 246.60p -2.30% QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 473.60p -1.95% Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 600.00p -1.64% Ruffer Investment Company Ltd Red PTG Pref Shares (RICA) 298.00p -1.32% Hilton Food Group (HFG) 531.00p -1.21% Energean (ENOG) 743.00p -1.13%

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