FTSE 100 today: Stocks slip as Middle East tensions keep oil above $105 Navamya Acharya Fri, October 16, 2026 at 3:44 AM EDT 3 min read CL=F -0.97% ^FTSE -0.07% GC=F +0.81% LCO +0.40% CL -0.12% Explore stocks on Coinbase Trading disclosure Trading disclosure The above button links to Coinbase. Yahoo Finance is not a broker-dealer or investment adviser and does not offer securities or cryptocurrencies for sale or facilitate trading. Coinbase pays us for certain activity generated through this link. Prices displayed are informational.
Investing.com -- British stocks traded lower on Friday as Middle East tensions kept oil above $100 a barrel, a day after the FTSE 100 closed 1.08% higher, its highest finish in more than six weeks.
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The FTSE 100 was down 0.18%, as of 03:16 ET (07:16 GMT). Germany's DAC was up 0.61% and France's CAC 40 slipped by 0.08%. Sterling gained 0.33% to $1.3318.
Brent crude futures fell 0.67% to $105.21 a barrel and U.S. West Texas Intermediate fell 0.76% to $97.24. Gold futures rose 0.86% to $4,205.95 an ounce, while spot gold rose 0.34% to $4,184.72.
Iran's army commander-in-chief Amir Hatami said the Strait of Hormuz "will remain closed until the enemy respects the rights of the Iranian people" and that traffic was "very, very limited," Iran's Mehr news agency reported.
U.S. Central Command said on Thursday that the United States "and regional partners control the strait as commercial vessels continue to transit despite unwarranted IRGC aggression."
U.S. President Donald Trump said in a Newsmax interview on Thursday that he "would not use" nuclear weapons against Iran and did not see "putting US troops on the ground" there.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Thursday that sanctions would continue until Iran's "coffers are empty", after announcing measures on 16 individuals and 10 entities.
ING's Warren Patterson and Ewa Manthey said oil "remains well-supported", with the market pricing in a "significant risk premium" that would only fully clear with a U.S.-Iran agreement.
ING said IEA members agreed to release the remaining 100 million barrels of a 400 million-barrel March pledge, only 20 million of it diesel versus about 50 million initially suggested, which could prompt Washington to mull diesel export curbs again.
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Washington is weighing easing sanctions on some shadow-fleet tankers to cut shipping costs, per media reports.
UK Chancellor John Healey is set to raise taxes on banks at his Oct. 28 budget to fund cost-of-living support and shore up the public finances, Bloomberg reported, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter.
The move would likely raise the 3% bank surcharge levied on top of corporation tax, which was 8% until 2023. Fully reversing the cut would raise about £2 billion, the report said. The Guardian had reported the proposal earlier on Thursday.
Healey, speaking at IMF meetings in Bangkok, declined to rule out the move. "I've got decisions to take in the budget, and I'll set those out in two weeks' time," he told reporters, having earlier called the City "part of the jewel" in Britain's economic crown.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has promised "breathing space" for households facing higher energy and mortgage costs after the war with Iran.
Healey said support would be temporary and targeted. Options include more spending on the £150 warm homes discount and a fuel duty freeze. Bloomberg said higher borrowing costs have roughly halved the £23.6 billion fiscal buffer Healey inherited from Rachel Reeves.
Ofgem launched a consultation on activating its market stabilisation charge to protect energy suppliers from wholesale price volatility ahead of winter.
Ithaca Energy said CEO Luciano Vasques plans to retire by March 31, 2027, prompting the board to begin its search for a successor.
Man Group reported record assets under management of $270.9 billion at the end of September, up 6.8% quarter on quarter and above expectations, supported by $10.1 billion in investor inflows.
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