FTSE 100 rises 29 points to 10,669
Brent crude tops $100/bbl
Retail sales rise 1% in June

9.25am: More morning movers

Renishaw PLC (LSE:RSW) jumped 8% after the precision engineering group said full-year profits would beat market expectations following a record fourth quarter. Strong demand from semiconductor, electronics, aerospace and defence customers helped drive a 27% rise in quarterly revenue. Analysts said the company has effectively “jumped a year ahead” of previous earnings forecasts. Read more

discoverIE Group PLC (LSE:DSCV) jumped 12.5% after the customised electronics maker said full-year earnings are tracking ahead of expectations. Strong order growth drove optimism, with organic orders up 31% in the first quarter and sales rising 6%. Recent acquisitions also performed well, helping reinforce confidence in the group’s growth plans. Read more

AOTI Inc (AIM:AOTI) jumped 29% after the wound-care specialist said proposed Medicare coverage could expand its TWO2 therapy market opportunity 65-fold to around US$26 billion. The move follows plans to cover topical oxygen therapy for hard-to-heal diabetic foot ulcers, potentially opening access to millions more patients and supporting wider insurance reimbursement. Read more 

Arc Minerals Limited (AIM:ARCM, OTC:ACMNF, FRA:DFYA) gained 6% after its Virgo copper project in Botswana revealed an 18-kilometre geological contact ahead of drilling. The expanded structure, identified through geophysical surveying, hosts several promising anomalies and is near major discoveries at Khoemacau. Drilling is expected to begin in early August. Read more 

Wise Group PLC (LSE:WISE, NASDAQ:WSE) fell 9% after the payments firm said US regulators had rejected its application for a national trust bank charter. The company said the decision does not affect its current US operations, with existing money transmitter licences still in place. Wise added it plans to submit a revised application reflecting its growth and regulatory progress. Read more

8.55am: FTSE 100 holds up

The FTSE 100 is holding onto its early gains, now up 29 points at 10,668.55, despite negative sentiment in the tech sector and that resurgent oil price. 

Other European markets are also faring well, with the Paris market up 0.2% and Frankfurt rallying 0.6%.

Asia hasn’t been so lucky, though, with Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 falling 2.7%, Shanghai’s SSE Composite down 1.6% and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong losing just over 1%.

The tech-heavy Kospi in Seoul has slumped 5.7%, driven by the sharp overnight correction in US equities and escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.

“Markets are ending the week with the worst possible pairing: an AI de-rating and an oil shock,” commented Tickmill Group’s Patrick Munnelly. “The technology selloff has gathered pace as investors question whether the returns on AI capex can justify the spending surge, while Brent’s move through $100/bbl has revived the inflation scare and pushed central-bank pricing back in a hawkish direction.”

8.15am: Footsie defies weaker sentiment

The FTSE 100 opened lower but quickly retraced its losses to trade higher 20 minutes into Friday trading. 

London’s blue-chip index is currently 25 points up at 10,664.36, defying expectations for a 40-point decine at the open.

Software group The Sage Group PLC (LSE:SGE) led the gainers, adding 1.7%, while Pershing Square Holdings (LSE:PSH) and RELX PLC (LSE:REL) both added 1.5%.

On the downside, Airtel Africa PLC (LSE:AAF) slid 2.7%, Standard Chartered PLC (LSE:STAN) fell 1.8% and Rio Tinto Ltd (LSE:RIO, ASX:RIO, OTC:RTNTF) lost 1.6%. 

Surprisingly, perhaps, BP PLC (LSE:BP.) and Shell PLC (LSE:SHEL, NYSE:SHEL) are both down around 1% despite Brent crude topping $100 a barrel for the first time in months. Both have had a good week though as oil started its climb. 

8am: Retail sales warm up

UK retail sales rebounded in June, with the volume of goods bought rising 1% from May, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The improvement followed a solid May and helped lift sales volumes by 0.6% across the second quarter compared with the first three months of the year.

Retailers pointed to warm weather and seasonal promotions as key drivers of stronger spending. Non-store retailers enjoyed increased demand for outdoor products, sports equipment, clothing, fans and air conditioning, while clothing stores recorded their biggest monthly sales increase since September 2025. Department stores and computer and telecoms retailers also performed well.

Online shopping continued to gain momentum, with online spending rising 2.8% during the month and accounting for 29.4% of total retail sales, the highest share since April 2021.

Fuel sales, however, remained subdued after motorists had stocked up earlier in the year, with retailers also citing higher prices and fewer journeys as factors weighing on demand.

7.50am: Trump’s tariff wall is back

President Donald Trump has dusted off his tariff playbook, with a new round of import duties taking effect on around 60 trading partners after a temporary set of levies expired.

The new Section 301 tariffs range from 10% to 12.5%. The UK, EU, Canada and India have landed in the 10% bracket, while China, Japan and South Korea face the higher rate. The White House says the tariffs are designed to pressure trading partners to tighten rules on forced labour in supply chains.

The move follows February’s Supreme Court ruling that knocked out an earlier wave of tariffs, forcing the administration to find a more legally robust route. Mission accomplished.

As Deutsche Bank’s Jim Reid noted, the outcome was “largely in line with what was signalled” after last month’s investigations into forced labour practices. For markets, the latest chapter in Trump’s trade agenda is unlikely to be the last, with tariffs once again becoming a central feature of US economic policy.

7.35am: Brent back in triple digits

Brent crude is back above the psychologically important $100 a barrel level as mounting geopolitical tensions in the Middle East fuel concerns over potential supply disruptions, reinforcing an already tight global oil market.

The rally comes as investors weigh the risk that any escalation could affect key export routes or production from the region, which accounts for a significant share of global crude supply. Those concerns have been amplified by OPEC+’s continued production restraint, leaving the market with limited spare capacity to absorb further shocks.

Strong seasonal demand has also supported prices, with summer travel and resilient consumption offsetting concerns about slower global economic growth.

The return to triple-digit oil prices has broader implications for financial markets. Higher energy costs risk prolonging inflationary pressures, potentially complicating the path towards lower interest rates in major economies. While the move is supportive for oil producers and energy equities, it raises fresh questions over the outlook for consumers, corporate margins and central bank policy should elevated prices persist.

“With nerves about the potential inflationary impact of the escalating conflict in the Middle East colliding with worries about soaring tech capex, it’s been tough to find the optimism, even if London markets enjoyed a continued boost from big oil and defence stocks as investors adjust to the changing political and geopolitical landscapes,” commented AJ Bell’s Danni Hewson. “It’s worth remembering that at the start of the month the price was hovering around $70 a barrel and markets had dared to hope that central bankers might be able to seamlessly shift from a pause to further cuts.”

FTSE 100 Live pre-open

London looks set to open in the red on Friday, with tech selling and oil topping $100 a barrel combining to darken the mood heading into the weekend.

Futures traders have the FTSE 100 called 40 points lower, building on Thursday’s 77-point decline to 10,639. The blue-chip index faces pressure from two directions: a sharp Wall Street sell-off driven by disappointing Big Tech earnings, and fresh geopolitical anxiety in the Middle East pushing oil prices to triple figures for the first time in months.

US stocks fell heavily overnight, with the Nasdaq leading the way down 2.2% as investors took a dim view of quarterly results from Alphabet and Tesla. The S&P 500 dropped 1.2%, its worst session of the month, while the Dow shed 1%.

The problem wasn’t the earnings themselves, according to Swissquote’s Ipek Ozkardeskaya; it was the spending. “Earnings themselves were not the problem; spending and evaporating free cash flow were,” she said. “Both Alphabet and Tesla stood by their capital investment plans, while Alphabet raised its capex outlook by $15 billion to $205 billion. Meanwhile, free cash flow at both Alphabet and Tesla turned negative in the second quarter.”

Ozkardeskaya warned that Big Tech, once defined by being capital-light and cash-heavy, is becoming the opposite: increasingly reliant on equity and debt issuance to finance AI ambitions at a time when interest rate expectations are moving higher.