UK equities slip as Middle East impasse drives oil higher

UK ‌shares declined ​on Wednesday, as risk sentiment took a hit after hostilities in the Middle East picked up again and sent crude oil prices ‌higher, with little sign of progress on a peace deal keeping investors on edge.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 index fell 0.2% to 10,350.5 points by 1013 GMT, while the midcap FTSE 250 slipped 0.1%. * Gulf ‌hostilities flared again, with an Iranian missile attack damaging Kuwait's airport and the U.S. military carrying out ‌strikes near the Strait of Hormuz.

* Oil prices jumped around 3% as the Middle East situation escalated, sending shares of UK energy firms 1.3% higher. * Healthcare was among the top drags with drugmaker AstraZeneca down 2.2%.

* Precious metal ⁠miners and ​industrial metal miners fell over ⁠1% each as metal prices pulled back. * Investment manager Ninety One fell 6.4% as analysts noted smaller-than-expected net inflows during ⁠the second half of 2026.

* British private equity firm Bridgepoint Group fell 3.4% after Switzerland's Partners Group said ​it is capping withdrawals from an $8.6 billion private equity fund. * Shares of B&M added 16.1% ⁠after the British discount retailer reported a smaller-than-expected drop in annual pretax profit.

* Debenhams Group jumped 22.3% after the online fashion ⁠retailer ​returned to growth with a 0.5% rise in first-quarter gross merchandise value along with a "substantial" increase in core profit. * On the data front, British services firms buckled in May as the strains ⁠of the Iran war pushed up their costs and hit optimism.

* The OECD scaled back an ⁠earlier assessment of ⁠the immediate impact of the Iran war on British growth and inflation this year, but sees less recovery in 2027 than it did in its last ‌set of ‌forecasts in late March.

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