British shares moved slightly higher on Thursday as traders weighed geopolitical headlines connected to the Strait of Hormuz alongside an active UK corporate earnings schedule.
By 03:13 ET (07:13 GMT), the FTSE 100 had risen 0.19%. Germany's DAX was up 0.06% and France's CAC 40 outperformed the group with a 0.71% advance. Sterling eased 0.06% versus the dollar to trade at $1.3460.
Geopolitical commentary from U.S. officials featured prominently in market discussion. U.S. President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social rejecting reports that U.S. military munitions stocks have been severely depleted by the conflict with Iran, asserting the country holds "massive amounts" of munitions and warning of prosecution for anyone leaking inventory details.
Those remarks followed reporting that cited sources saying the U.S. had used roughly 80% of its pre-war THAAD interceptor inventory and about half of its Patriot interceptors since the conflict began. That reporting noted related concerns among Gulf allies that rely on U.S. air-defence systems.
Separately, The Washington Post published an account that President Trump confronted Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over the shortages during a Camp David meeting last Friday. The White House and the Pentagon labelled that account "fake news," with press secretary Karoline Leavitt and Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell each denying that such a confrontation occurred.
Vice President JD Vance, speaking to Fox News, said talks with Tehran would be "messy" and take time, and that Washington would employ "military, economic and diplomatic" tools to pursue a favourable result. He also stated that oil was "$79 today" and expressed the expectation that prices would "come down and stay down."
Commodity moves were modest: Brent crude rose 0.50% to $79.85 a barrel and U.S. West Texas Intermediate gained 0.25% to $75.41. Gold futures increased 0.35% to $4,320.50 an ounce, while spot gold was up 0.35% at $4,261.92.
UK company results and operational updates
Several U.K. listed companies reported first-half results or issued operational guidance that drew attention during the session.
- Quilter reported first-half profit that fell short of estimates, the group said, as a higher policyholder tax charge offset record client inflows and stronger revenue.
- Wizz Air recorded a larger-than-expected quarterly loss, with the airline attributing the result to higher fuel costs and weaker unit revenue that outweighed capacity growth. Management also flagged a softer outlook for the current quarter.
- Persimmon lifted its 2026 home delivery forecast to the top end of its guidance range, while warning that rising costs may not be fully offset in 2027.
- Harbour Energy raised both its annual free cash flow and production forecasts after reporting record first-half output and benefiting from higher oil and gas prices; the company also announced a $250 million share buyback.
- Michael Page reported higher first-half profit, with growth in Asia Pacific and the Americas offsetting macroeconomic uncertainty in the hiring market.
Investors continued to parse these results for signals on revenue trends, cost pressures and cash-flow trajectories across sectors, while keeping an eye on how energy and defence-related headlines could influence sentiment.
Markets remained sensitive to developments around the Gulf and to company-specific earnings, resulting in modest index moves as participants balanced short-term headlines against the latest corporate disclosures.