Investing.com — British stocks extended earlier gains on Thursday even as Iran claimed fresh attacks on U.S. military bases in Kuwait and the UAE, with havens gold and silver rallying.
The rose 0.7%. The also rallied 0.7% and the rose 0.1%. Sterling jumped 0.4% against the dollar to $1.3542.
Iran’s army claimed to have struck the U.S.-used bases in Kuwait and the UAE, Ahmed Al-Jaber Air Base and Al Minhad Air Base respectively, in retaliation for American strikes it said killed at least 18 people, including four civilians at a wedding in Hormozgan province, and wounded 108.
Kuwait’s army said its air defenses intercepted incoming missiles and drones, and Kuwait’s foreign ministry condemned the attacks in the “strongest” terms, citing UN Security Council Resolution 2817.
Iranian First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref warned Thursday that “dark months await” the U.S. economy, saying Iran would shift to “asymmetric” and “multilayered” tactics and urging Americans to stockpile fuel.
The U.S. Central Command said Thursday it has redirected 86 commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz as part of its naval blockade of Iran, up from 84 a day earlier, and said it had disabled three vessels and boarded two others.
Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority added 11 more vessels to its blacklist, including the tanker Kiku and the LNG carrier Mubaraz, taking the total to 56. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he did not expect the renewed fighting to last “too long,” Reuters reported, adding that US forces were helping move oil shipments through the strait and intercepting Iranian drones.
Trump separately proposed renaming the waterway “Trump Strait” in a Truth Social post. Reuters reported that senior Trump aides are seeking to prevent the conflict from escalating before November’s congressional elections, with four sources saying the administration could weigh further military action after the vote while maintaining economic pressure on Tehran in the meantime.
IRGC Deputy Commander Mostafa Izadi said Tuesday the force was “fully prepared against the enemy” and would use its missile and drone capabilities to respond to any hostile move, Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB reported.
rose 0.66% to $96.26 a barrel and gained 1.1% to $92.01, both reversing earlier session losses as Iran’s retaliation continued.
rose 1.8% to $4,495 an ounce, extending Thursday’s rally, with up 1.4% at $4,448.46.
UK roundup
said summer bookings were up 8.8% from a year earlier, highlighting resilient travel demand despite geopolitical tensions.
M&G beat half-year profit expectations as strong inflows from Japanese partner Daiichi Life helped offset market volatility linked to the Iran war.
narrowed its annual output forecast towards the lower end after a five-week outage at its Magnus field caused by a third-party infrastructure disruption, despite returning to half-year profit.
forecast an annual operating loss of around £10 million as subdued demand and competitive pricing weighed on sales.