London’s benchmark index edged higher on Monday as rising oil prices driven by Middle East supply disruptions lifted sentiment across UK markets.
The FTSE 100 gained 0.53% as of 03:15 ET, while Germany’s DAX slipped 0.12% and France’s CAC 40 fell 0.24%, leaving European indices broadly lower.
Sterling weakened against the US dollar, with GBP/USD down 0.22% at 1.3497, adding further pressure on UK import costs.
Oman postponed a planned meeting between Gulf states and Iran concerning management of the Strait of Hormuz, citing the need to reach consensus among regional parties.
ING commodities strategists warned that “the delay pushes any prospect of de-escalation even further out of reach,” signalling prolonged uncertainty for global energy markets.
The postponement followed Saudi Arabia’s shutdown of its 7 million barrel-per-day East-West pipeline after attacks on the country’s energy infrastructure last week.
ING described the pipeline as “a vital bypass route for Saudi oil exports during disruptions through the Strait of Hormuz,” underscoring the severity of the outage.
Reuters ship-tracking data showed the number of Hormuz transits falling to single digits over the weekend, compared with a 10-day average of 14 vessels passing through.
US Central Command separately confirmed it had redirected more than 100 commercial vessels under its blockade of Iranian ports, which was reinstated in July.
ING maintained its base-case forecast for Brent crude to average $80 a barrel in the fourth quarter, while acknowledging the escalation had increased risks to that outlook.
Brent crude futures rose 2.86% to $107.60 a barrel, while US WTI futures gained 2.77% to reach $102.81, reflecting the scale of market anxiety.
Middle distillate markets also remained tight, with the ICE gasoil crack reaching record levels near $84 a barrel and US diesel cracks exceeding $110 a barrel.
ING linked those conditions to Russia’s diesel export ban and US pressure on Ukraine to halt strikes on refineries, compounding the supply squeeze.
The IEA now expects global oil demand to decline by 2.5 million barrels per day year on year in 2026, a reduction that is 940,000 barrels per day larger than its previous forecast.
Gold prices moved lower amid the risk shift toward energy assets, with December futures down 1.06% at $4,362.37 and spot gold declining 0.62% to $4,322.29.
In domestic news, Prime Minister Andy Burnham hosted business leaders, entrepreneurs and local mayors at Downing Street as the government outlined its approach to economic growth.
Participants included founders of Octopus Energy, Revolut, Starling Bank and Oxford Quantum Circuits, alongside executives from HSBC, Aviva, Standard Chartered, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, BT, Vodafone, BP, Shell, Rolls-Royce and BAE Systems.
The roundtable came ahead of Chancellor John Healey’s first budget on 28 October, set against a backdrop of higher borrowing costs and the economic effects of the Iran war.