Investing.com — British stocks fell on Wednesday as escalating US-Iran strikes pushed oil higher, denting risk appetite across European equities.
The was down 0.30% as of 03:18 ET (07:18 GMT), Germany’s fell 0.22% and France’s lost 0.16%. Sterling slipped 0.12% against the dollar to $1.3501.
Jefferies noted risky assets were already weaker Tuesday, with the S&P 500 down 0.7% and the off 0.8% as rose 5bp to cross 4.80%.
The IRGC said it struck U.S. bases at al-Dhafra and al-Minhad in the UAE with drones, a claim unconfirmed by UAE authorities. Kuwait’s KUNA reported a drone strike sparked a residential fire in Kuwait City, later extinguished with no casualties.
Iran also said it hit U.S. bases in Erbil, Iraq, while Bahrain issued a public alert. Two tankers, the Sidr and Senegal Prosperity, were reportedly hit by projectiles in the Strait of Hormuz, ING’s Warren Patterson and Ewa Manthey noted this followed weekend strikes and additional overnight U.S. strikes on Iranian targets, adding fresh geopolitical risk premium to oil.
This follows a Tuesday wave of U.S. strikes CENTCOM said targeted IRGC “air defense sites, radar systems… and communications sites.”
Iran said the strikes killed five and injured roughly 50 at a wedding near Sirik, with foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei calling it part of a “chain of atrocities.”
Iran said 11 died in separate Khuzestan strikes Wednesday. Iran said it fired missiles at a U.S. base in Jordan; Jordan’s military said 13 missiles were launched, 10 intercepted, with no casualties, conflicting with Iran’s claim of a direct hit.
President Trump warned on Truth Social that Iran faces a response after which “there will be very little left of the Islamic Republic,” adding the U.S. has “almost total control” of Hormuz and Tehran’s economy is “totally collapsing,” a single Truth Social post relayed identically by ANI and CNN, not separate briefings.
Jefferies’ Mohit Kumar said the bank still expects no Fed hike in September given likely benign CPI, though the bar for a hike has fallen following Fed governor Kevin Warsh’s recent comments on credibility; earliest hike seen as December, contingent on the war’s path and oil.
was down 0.02% at $4,327.33 an ounce, while fell 0.52% to $4,374.09. rose 0.37% to $95 a barrel, while gained 0.06% to $90.27.
UK round up
appointed Ian Tyler as board chairman, while Amanda Blanc will step down as an independent director once a successor is appointed.
cut its fiscal 2027 passenger target to 214 million from 216 million due to high unhedged oil prices and warned of higher short-haul fares.