British shares eked out gains on Thursday, with investors rotating into precious-metals names as a hedge against escalating tensions around Iran and the Strait of Hormuz. The FTSE 100 was up 0.12% as of 03:20 ET 07:20 (GMT), while regional benchmarks showed mixed moves: Germany's DAX added 0.11% and France's CAC 40 slipped 0.21%. Sterling strengthened 0.08% against the U.S. dollar to $1.3497.
Market participants reacted to reports of heightened naval operations and vessel blacklisting in the Gulf. The U.S. Central Command said it had rerouted 86 commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz as part of its blockade of Iran, up from 84 a day earlier, and reported that it had disabled three vessels and boarded two others. Iran's Persian Gulf Strait Authority added 11 more vessels to its blacklist, including the tanker Kiku and the LNG carrier Mubaraz, bringing the total on its list to 56.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he did not expect the renewed fighting to last "too long," and the administration reported that U.S. forces were assisting in moving oil shipments through the strait and intercepting Iranian drones. In a separate post on Truth Social, Trump suggested renaming the waterway "Trump Strait." Reuters reported that senior Trump aides are pursuing options to avoid further escalation ahead of November's congressional elections, with four sources saying the administration could consider additional military action after the vote while maintaining economic pressure on Tehran in the meantime.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday that Iran would "continue to feel the squeeze" until it abandons any nuclear weapons ambitions and stops supporting terrorism, and that the U.S. would persist in targeting threats to its forces and to international shipping. These comments followed the resumption of U.S. military operations in and around the strait and occurred before subsequent Iranian retaliation against American interests in the region.
Regional governments have denounced recent Iranian strikes. The UAE condemned Iran's strike on the Saudi-owned tanker Sidr near Oman’s Musandam Peninsula, which killed two Filipino crew members, and the UAE also criticized Iranian missile and drone strikes on Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan and Iraq's Kurdistan region.
International political leaders weighed in. Chinese President Xi Jinping, visiting Cairo, urged Middle Eastern nations to reject foreign interference and called for diplomatic initiatives to end the conflict during talks with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Separately, IRGC Deputy Commander Mostafa Izadi told Iran's state broadcaster IRIB that the force was "fully prepared against the enemy" and would use its missile and drone capabilities to respond to any hostile move.
Against this backdrop, investors moved toward safe havens. Gold futures rose 1.3% to $4,471.01 an ounce, while spot gold was up 0.86% at $4,425.85. Miners tracked the bullion rally: Fresnillo rose 1.1% and Endeavour Mining gained 1.4% as investors sought shelter in gold and silver exposure amid Gulf tensions.
Crude oil prices slipped despite the shipping disruption. Brent crude declined 0.98% to $94.70 a barrel and WTI fell 0.90% to $90.23. The price moves reflected investor caution as shipping routes and security dynamics evolve.
UK corporate updates and sector snapshots
- Jet2 said summer bookings were up 8.8% year-on-year, a sign of resilient travel demand despite geopolitical headwinds.
- M&G beat half-year profit expectations, with strong inflows from partner Daiichi Life in Japan helping to offset market volatility linked to the Iran conflict.
- EnQuest narrowed its annual output guidance toward the lower end after a five-week outage at the Magnus field caused by a third-party infrastructure disruption, even though the company returned to a half-year profit.
- Crest Nicholson warned of a subdued housing market and competitive pricing, forecasting an annual operating loss of around 10 million.
These company-level reports added texture to the market's modest gains: travel and asset-management names showed resilience, while energy producers and housebuilders flagged operational and demand pressures.
What this means for markets
Traders interpreted the metal-price rally as a flight to safety that offset some of the market unease tied to maritime security and regional military activity. The mixed performance across sectors - with miners outperforming and oil slipping - highlights how investors are reallocating risk exposure amid continuing uncertainty.
With shipping traffic being actively rerouted and additional vessels blacklisted, markets remain sensitive to further developments in the Gulf and to statements from political and military leaders on both sides.