FTSE 100 Slips On Middle East Tensions Weigh On Sentiment

(RTTNews) - The UK stock market's benchmark index FTSE 100 was down in negative territory a little past noon on Wednesday, as stocks fell amid concerns about tensions in the Middle East following fresh strikes by Iran and retaliatory action by the U.S. in the Gulf region.

Brent crude prices climbed to about $99 a barrel, rising 3%, on concerns about supply disruptions, raising fears of inflation and interest rate hikes.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Iran has mined "large segments" of the Strait of Hormuz and peace talks could take several months to conclude.

Rubio also told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that Iran's supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei is alive and increasingly active at some level.

The FTSE 100 was down 35.29 points or 0.34% at 10,338.22 about a quarter past noon.

ICG fell more than 5%. AstraZeneca, Melrose Industries, Burberry Group, Rio Tinto and Fresnillo lost 2%-3%.

Scottish Mortgage, Tritax Big Box, Croda International, Metlen Energy & Metals, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Anglo American Plc, British American Tobacco, Antofagasta, Prudential, BT Group, Segro and RightMove shed 1%-1.9%.

Among the notable gainers, Bunzl climbed 3.6%, while Howden Joiner Group, Whitbread and SSE moved up 2.6%-2.8%, and United Utilities advanced 2.1%.

Sainsbury (J), Tesco, BP, Shell, Airtel Africa, Convatec Group, Kingfisher, Centrica, Unilever, Vodafone Group, National Grid and JD Sports Fashion also moved notably higher.

In economic news, data from S&P Global showed the S&P Global UK Composite PMI fell to 49.7 in May from 52.6 in the previous month, revised higher from the preliminary estimate of 48.5 and firmly below the initial market expectations of an expansion of 51.6.

The Services PMI score came in at 49.3 for May, down from 52.7 in April, while the manufacturing PMI score was 53.9, up slightly from previous month's 53.7.