European equity markets opened the day in jittery fashion as investors digested renewed signs of escalation in the Iran conflict and a meaningful uptick in oil prices, ahead of policy decisions from the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of England (BoE).
At 03:30 ET (07:30 GMT) benchmark moves showed the FTSE 100 up 0.13%, while Germany's DAX fell 0.33% and France's CAC 40 declined 1.11%. Currency markets saw sterling edge higher against the dollar, with GBP/USD changing hands at 1.3488.
Sentiment was fragile after reports indicated that United States Central Command is preparing to brief Donald Trump on potential military action against Iran. Those reports have amplified concern over a possible broadening of conflict and the risk of sustained disruptions to global energy supplies.
Oil dominated market headlines as investors reacted to developments around continued blockades of Iranian ports and the broader risk of regional instability. The rise in energy costs has heightened focus on central bank policy decisions later in the day - both the ECB and the BoE are expected to hold policy rates steady but market participants will be scrutinising comments for clues on the path ahead as energy-driven inflationary pressures mount.
These decisions follow a divided outcome at the Federal Reserve, where policymakers left rates unchanged but recorded an unusually split vote: three members sought to remove the Fed's easing bias. In public remarks, Chair Jerome Powell said he would remain in post as governor for now, while Kevin Warsh moves toward confirmation.
UK company headlines
- SIG warned of lower first-half profit after reporting a 5% fall in Q1 like-for-like sales, attributing weakness to poor weather and a prolonged downturn in European construction demand.
- Glencore reported a 19% rise in Q1 copper output to 199,600 tonnes, citing stronger African grades, and said its marketing unit is on track to beat full-year guidance.
- United Utilities said it expects annual revenue growth and has submitted a 1.4 billion investment plan to regulator Ofwat, targeting up to 4,000 supply chain jobs.
- Whitbread announced plans to overhaul its restaurant business, replacing remaining branded sites and warning of as many as 3,800 job cuts across the UK and Ireland.
- Rolls-Royce reaffirmed its full-year forecasts, stating it expects to offset disruption stemming from the Middle East conflict.
- Housebuilder Persimmon flagged rising supply costs linked to higher UK energy prices and said pressures are expected to build into 2027.
- Metro Bank maintained its 2026 outlook after reporting a 52% surge in Q1 lending to 5.5 billion, driven by strength in corporate and SME segments.
- Unilever beat Q1 sales forecasts with 3.8% underlying growth, citing strong demand for core brands, and maintained its full-year guidance despite macro uncertainty.
Alongside corporate updates, market research and advisory offerings continue to promote model-driven stock screens. One such product posed the question: "Should you invest $2,000 in RR right now?" and described an AI evaluation process that reviews RR among many companies using more than 100 financial metrics. The same service highlighted past winners including Super Micro Computer (+185%) and AppLovin (+157%).
With central bank statements imminent, traders are weighing the balance between near-term geopolitical risk that can push energy costs higher and the guidance policymakers provide on inflation and rates. For now, markets are trading with heightened sensitivity to headlines and company-by-company news flows.