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| Yesterday’s UK 100 Leaders | Price (p) | % Chg |
| Endeavour Mining | 4,299.0 | 4.2% |
| Smiths Group | 2,335.0 | 3.6% |
| GSK | 2,047.5 | 3.5% |
| Anglo American | 3,159.0 | 3.4% |
| ICG | 1,538.0 | 3.4% |
| Yesterday’s UK 100 Laggards | Price (p) | % Chg |
| Entain | 563.4 | -3.6% |
| Experian | 2,526.0 | -1.6% |
| RELX | 2,396.5 | -1.4% |
| Bunzl | 2,159.0 | -0.9% |
| Shell | 3,430.0 | -0.9% |
| Major World Indices | Price | % Chg | 1 Year |
| UK 100 INDEX | 10,107 | 1.4% | 16.3% |
| DOW JONES INDUS. AVG | 46,429 | 0.7% | 9.4% |
| DAX INDEX | 22,957 | 1.4% | 0.5% |
| NIKKEI 225 | 53,604 | 0.3% | 41.0% |
| S&P/ASX 200 INDEX | 8,526 | 0.1% | 6.6% |
| Commodity | Units | Price | % Chg |
| WTI Crude Oil (Nymex) | USD/bbl. | 92.26 | 2.15% |
| Brent Crude (ICE) | USD/bbl. | 104.45 | 2.18% |
| Gold Spot | USD/t oz. | 4,459 | 1.1% |
| Copper (Comex) | USd/lb. | 549 | 1.3% |
Click graph to enlarge
The UK 100 is called to open -50 points at at 10,056. The UK 100 looks set to open slightly softer today, this follows a 140+ point rise for the UK’s blue-chip index yesterday.
Stocks jumped stateside on Wednesday as oil prices pulled back and traders hoped the U.S. and Iran could reach an agreement for a ceasefire. The Dow Jones gained 305.43 points, or 0.66%, and closed at 46,429.49. The S&P rose 0.54% to 6,591.90, and the Nasdaq advanced 0.77% to end at 21,929.83.
Asian stocks were mostly lower and oil prices gained on Thursday as a de-escalation of the Iran war remained uncertain. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 was trading 0.3% lower at 53,607.75. South Korea’s Kospi lost 1.9% to 5,537.30. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.4% to 24,978.71, while the Shanghai Composite index was down 0.6% to 3,909.16. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 edged down 0.2%, while Taiwan’s Taiex was trading 0.4% higher.
Oil prices were up again on Thursday after an earlier dip. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 1.3% to $98.51 per barrel. It was below $95 on Wednesday. Benchmark U.S. crude was 1.6% higher at $91.75 a barrel.
The rise in oil prices came as Tehran on Wednesday dismissed a ceasefire plan by the U.S., after the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump offered a 15-point proposal to Iran and Trump this week delayed a self-imposed deadline to “obliterate” its power plants in order to force Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Next has reported a jump in annual profits, with the fashion and homeware retailer warning that the conflict in the Middle East could push up costs and dampen sales growth in the year ahead. Pre-tax profit rose 14.5% to £1.158 billion in the year to January 2026, in line with its latest upgraded guidance that month, as total group sales grew 10.8% to £7 billion. After returning £839 million to shareholders during the year through dividends, share buybacks, and a capital distribution scheme, the board has proposed a final ordinary dividend of 181p per share, taking the full-year total to 268p, up from 233p a year earlier. Next said it anticipates returning £500 million of cash to shareholders through share buybacks, special dividends or capital returns in the current year. This is based on expectations that the year will see a pre-tax profit of £1.21 billion, up 4.5%, with full-price sales growth forecast at the same rate. However, Next flagged the Middle East conflict as a near-term risk, noting the region accounts for around 6% of its total turnover. The company said it had set aside £15 million to cover likely additional costs such as higher fuel and air freight bills over the next three months, though it added the figure was offset by savings elsewhere and would not affect its profit guidance.
UK
Next (NXT) – Full Year Results
US
None
UK
Carnival (CCL) – Q1 Results
US
None
ECB’s De Guindos speech
BoE’s Breeden speech
US Initial Jobless Claims
BoE’s Greene speech
BoE’s Taylor speech
Fed’s Cook speech
Fed’s Miran speech
Fed’s Jefferson speech
Fed’s Logan speech
Fed’s Barr speech
UK 100 companies going ex-dividend on 26th March 2026:
British American Tobacco
Mondi
Segro
St James Place
Smith & Nephew
Aviva
Prudential
UK 250 companies going ex-dividend on 26th March 2026:
MONY Group
International Personal Finance
Hammerson
Lion Finance Group
Primary Health Properties
Volution Group
Ithaca Energy
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