UK's FTSE 100 falls on renewed Middle East war jitters

​UK's blue-chip shares fell on Thursday, pressured by downbeat data and worries that the Middle East conflict could remain ‌deadlocked.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 index fell 0.43% as of 11:15 am GMT, while the midcap FTSE 250 was 0.18% higher. * Iran's Supreme Leader has issued a directive that ‌the country's near-weapons-grade uranium should not be sent abroad, Reuters reported, hardening Tehran's stance ‌on one of the main U.S. demands at peace talks.

* The prolonged conflict has already pushed up oil prices and intensified concerns about inflation. * Separately, a survey on Thursday showed that British companies are ⁠suffering ​the most widespread drop ⁠in activity in over a year, due to the economic fallout from the war and political uncertainty ⁠at home.

* "These figures... lend some tentative support to other evidence that suggests the conditions for ​a long period of high inflation are not in place," said Paul Dales, ⁠chief UK economist at Capital Economics. * Earlier this week, data showed that inflation in April was softer than ⁠expected, ​while the unemployment rate ticked up.

* Meanwhile, factory orders in May contracted at the fastest rate since September 2020, according to the Confederation of British Industry. * ⁠Shares of automotive marketplace Autotrader slipped 9.1% after the company reported slower sales, and were the ⁠biggest laggard ⁠on the FTSE 100.

* Medical equipment and services shares fell 2.7%, dragged down by a 7.9% drop in medical equipment maker Convatec, ‌which flagged ‌margin pressure.

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