London’s FTSE 100 closed 0.20% lower on Monday as geopolitical tensions and a packed UK economic data week weighed on investor sentiment.
US President Donald Trump warned Americans to brace for persistently high fuel prices as interim ceasefire talks between the US and Iran stalled, leaving the Strait of Hormuz situation unresolved.
Iran threatened the waterway would remain blocked until the US admitted defeat, while Israel attacked Lebanon over the weekend, further unsettling global markets and energy traders.
The US also explored new sanctions on Iran as diplomatic discussions over peace and safe transit through the strategically critical strait remained at a complete standstill.
Investors are bracing for a busy domestic data week, with UK labour figures due Tuesday, July inflation on Wednesday, and an industrial trends report on Thursday.
Consumer confidence, retail sales, and August PMI readings are all scheduled for Friday, offering a comprehensive snapshot of the British economy’s current trajectory.
BofA Global Research said, “We expect UK headline inflation to rise from 2.6% in June to 2.9% in July – 10 [basis points] above the [Bank of England’s] forecast.”
BofA added, “The UK unemployment rate should fall to 4.8%, but private regular wage growth is likely to move a tad lower, too. We continue to see the central bank on hold in 2026, although risks are tilted to a hike later this year.”
AstraZeneca (AZN.L) bucked the broader market trend, gaining 0.73% after phase 3 trial data showed the Tagrisso-Orpathys combination and Enhertu both improved progression-free survival in certain lung cancer patients.
However, AstraZeneca separately terminated a phase 3 trial evaluating volrustomig combined with chemotherapy for patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer, injecting fresh uncertainty into its oncology pipeline.
BofA flagged the failure in a separate note, saying it “brings AZN pipeline risk back into focus following high profile Wainua PIII fail and recent high profile media speculation for a [Bristol Myers Squibb] merger.”
The bank further noted that “investors have been consistently more cautious of AZN’s bispecific strategy and may further investor caution on strength of oncology pipeline into an oncology patent cliff (Lynparza 27E, Imfinzi 31E, Calquence & Tagrisso 32E).”
HSBC (HSBA.L) closed 0.43% higher after raising $6.75 billion through the issuance of three series of senior unsecured notes intended for listing on the New York Stock Exchange.
The bank also issued SG$450 million in fixed-rate resettable notes on the London Stock Exchange’s main market, demonstrating continued appetite for its debt instruments across multiple global venues.
Deutsche Bank Research trimmed its price target on Entain (ENT.L) to 9.14 pounds sterling from 9.5 pounds, maintaining a buy rating as the sports betting and gaming group slipped 0.29%.
Deutsche Bank analysts noted that “UK online revenue grew 13% (c/fx), ahead of peers which have recently reported,” with Australia also highlighted as a standout region posting three consecutive quarters of market share gains.
