London open: FTSE rises as BP, Shell boosted by higher oil prices
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Monday 13 Jul 2026
(Sharecast News) - London stocks edged up in early trade on Monday as oil giants BP and Shell were boosted by rising oil prices amid escalating tensions between the US and Iran, with US earnings season due to kick off this week.
At 0830 BST, the FTSE 100 was 0.3% firmer at 10,523.86, while Brent crude was up 3.7% at $78.82 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate was 3.6% higher at $74.01 as the US insisted the Strait of Hormuz was open, despite Iran claiming it had closed the vital waterway following further military exchanges.
The US Central Command (Centcom) said on Saturday that it had struck more than 140 targets across Iran in response to Tehran attacking another commercial ship in the Strait of Hormuz.
"US forces hit approximately 140 Iranian military targets with precision munitions launched by land- and sea-based fighter aircraft, drones, and naval vessels," it said. Targets included Iranian missile and drone sites, naval capabilities, ammunition storage facilities, communication networks, and coastal surveillance locations.
Centcom said that during three nights of strikes last week, it struck more than 300 targets "to degrade Iran's ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial vessels freely transiting the strait".
"Commercial vessel transits through the vital international maritime corridor continue," it added.
On Sunday, Centcom said it had completed a new wave of strikes against Iran, hitting dozens of targets at multiple locations with precision munitions. US forces struck Iranian military air-defence systems, coastal radar sites, missile and drone capabilities, and small boats. "The Strait of Hormuz is a vital maritime corridor for global trade," it said, adding that "Iran does not control it".
In retaliation for the US strikes on Saturday, Iran fired missiles and drones at the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, and Bahrain early on Sunday morning.
Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said: "Further tit-for-tat exchanges intensified over the weekend, with varying views on traffic passing through the Strait of Hormuz. While the US President maintained that the waterway was still open, the voluntary reporting scheme UKMTO reported that traffic had already slowed to 10 vessels by Friday and that none could be tracked at all early this morning.
"Geopolitical tensions aside, the week heralds the beginning of the second quarter reporting season in earnest. On Tuesday alone, Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo will be releasing earnings, amid a slew of numbers during the week including the likes of Morgan Stanley and Netflix.
"Expectations for the season are stratospheric with estimates of an average 23% spike in year-on-year profits and follow an extremely strong set of results during the first quarter. Big tech will once more be at the vanguard of heightened forecasts, with capital spending, cash flow generation and profits top of the investor agenda."
In UK equity markets, BP and Shell gushed higher in tandem with oil prices.
Recruiter PageGroup surged as it held annual guidance after a rise in second-quarter gross profit driven by a strong performance in the Americas, offsetting weaker trading in France, Northern Europe and the UK. The recruiter did also warn of "a high degree of uncertainty in the outlook for the rest of the year", however.
Peer Hays was also in the black.
On the downside, Oxford Nanopore tumbled as it said first -half trading was below management expectations, mainly due to a revenue decline in China, which reflected enhanced export control restrictions and changes to commercial operations in the region.
Fintech group Plus500 also fell sharply despite reporting a record first-half performance and backing its full-year guidance.
BA and Iberia owner IAG and budget ariline Wizz Air both flew lower amid concerns about rising fuel costs.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 10,523.86 0.25%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 23,315.59 -0.24%
techMARK (TASX) 5,908.02 0.10%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Persimmon (PSN) 1,067.00p 2.70%
BP (BP.) 494.90p 2.65%
Computacenter (CCC) 4,536.00p 2.51%
Barratt Redrow (BTRW) 286.30p 2.03%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 111.70p 1.63%
Shell (SHEL) 3,084.50p 1.51%
BT Group (BT.A) 192.65p 1.34%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 2,005.00p 1.16%
Centrica (CNA) 172.65p 1.08%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,992.00p 1.08%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 8,274.00p -2.11%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 460.50p -2.00%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 3,712.00p -1.75%
Halma (HLMA) 3,586.00p -1.59%
IG Group Holdings (IGG) 1,776.00p -1.33%
Fresnillo (FRES) 2,605.00p -1.06%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 1,461.00p -1.05%
Spirax Group (SPX) 6,465.00p -0.99%
Smiths Group (SMIN) 2,482.00p -0.84%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 1,425.00p -0.83%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Pagegroup (PAGE) 140.50p 9.26%
W.A.G Payment Solutions (EWG) 107.60p 4.06%
Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 2,854.00p 3.23%
Harbour Energy (HBR) 224.80p 3.12%
Vistry Group (VTY) 252.80p 3.10%
Ithaca Energy (ITH) 226.50p 3.08%
Diversified Energy Company (DI) (DEC) 1,018.00p 3.04%
Hays (HAS) 44.06p 2.97%
Pollen Street Group Limited (POLN) 874.00p 2.70%
Bellway (BWY) 1,923.00p 2.35%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) 95.70p -20.20%
Plus500 Ltd (DI) (PLUS) 4,460.00p -6.80%
Pacific Horizon Inv Trust (PHI) 1,078.00p -3.92%
Fidelity Emerging Markets Limited Ptg NPV (FEML) 1,430.00p -3.38%
Templeton Emerging Markets Inv Trust (TEM) 312.50p -3.26%
SDCL Efficiency Income Trust (SEIT) 37.00p -3.14%
Raspberry PI Holdings (RPI) 808.50p -3.08%
Caledonia Investments (CLDN) 373.50p -2.48%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 1,149.00p -2.37%
Pan African Resources (PAF) 93.10p -2.26%
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