Investing.com — British stocks fell on Tuesday even as U.S. President Donald Trump insisted a peace deal with Iran was in its “final throes” and European peers pushed higher.
The fell 1.4%. Germany’s dropped 0.8% and France’s gained 0.1%. Sterling strengthened 0.4% against the dollar to 1.3385.
At least eight people were killed and 32 wounded in Israeli strikes on the southern Lebanese city of Tyre on Tuesday, Lebanon’s health ministry said, hours after Israel issued evacuation orders for the city including its Christian quarter.
Iran warned it would resume military operations if Israeli strikes on Lebanon continued, keeping the ceasefire on a knife edge.
Two Iranian air defense personnel, Bahman Hosseini and Alireza Abiri, were confirmed killed in Monday’s Israeli strikes, Iran’s first acknowledgement of fatalities from the exchange, according to state broadcaster IRIB. An Iranian lawmaker called for revenge over their deaths.
US Central Command confirmed on Tuesday that two U.S. Army crew members had been rescued after their AH-64 Apache helicopter went down near the coast of Oman while patrolling regional waters, in what was the first-ever water rescue carried out by an unmanned surface drone, operated by Task Force 59 of the U.S. Fifth Fleet.
The cause remained under investigation. Trump, speaking to reporters at JFK Airport after attending the NBA Finals on Monday night, confirmed the pilots were safe and said the U.S. was close to a deal with Iran, warning, “If we do the bombing, a lot of people are going to be killed. Who wants to do that? I don’t.”
CNN reported Trump has made at least 37 public predictions since March that an Iran deal was imminent.
On the diplomatic front, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper announced coordinated sanctions alongside Canada, France, Norway and Australia targeting six entities and one individual involved in financing and enabling settler violence in the occupied West Bank.
For the first time, UK official guidance will explicitly advise businesses against economic activity in illegal Israeli settlements. Cooper also confirmed at least £10 million in financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority in 2026 and an additional £1 million for humanitarian demining in Gaza.
UK Round-Up
projected annual adjusted pretax profit below market expectations after a construction slowdown delayed the sale of a site accounting for roughly half its forecast plot sales for the year.
Fellow homebuilder said customer demand had cooled following a positive start to the spring selling season, with rising fuel and energy costs adding further pressure on margins.
agreed to acquire U.S.-listed cancer drug developer for $10.6 billion in an all-cash deal at $124 per share, a 40% premium to its last closing price, to bolster its lung cancer portfolio.
investors said they remained in the dark over the precise circumstances behind the ousting of former chair Albert Manifold in May, the Financial Times reported.