FTSE 100 Live: London gain momentum ahead of Wall Street open

• FTSE 100 rises 80 points to 10,948
• Wall Street headed for the green
• Brent crude tops $82/bbl
• Miners rise on higher metals prices
• Fresnillo jumps 5%

12.55pm: Footsie gathers momentum before the US open

The FTSE 100 pushed 80 points higher, gaining momentum ahead of the US open.

Wall Street looks set to join in, with the S&P 500 indicated up 0.2% and the Nasdaq-100 up 0.5%, though Dow futures were flat.

All of which is a warm-up act for the month's biggest number, the July US jobs report, due at 1.30pm London time.

Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expect 80,000 positions were added last month, with unemployment parked at 4.2%.

Not thrilling, but the American labour market has been quietly stable while everyone shouted about inflation and artificial intelligence spending.

The Federal Reserve will be reading closely as it weighs its next move on interest rates.

Oil, meanwhile, kept climbing, because Washington and Tehran still have not shaken hands.

An Iranian semi-official news agency reported explosions in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday night, blamed on intercepting "hostile targets".

Iran and Oman are still working towards reopening the waterway, though the latest word is that US and Israeli ships need not apply.

The New York Fed's one-year inflation expectations survey is the other release to watch.

Earnings are thin: Vistra, Oklo, Under Armour and Wendy's.

11.49am: Grocers feel pinch

Shares in J Sainsbury and Tesco nudged lower in late morning trading after figures showed the heatwave continued to weigh on shopper numbers in July.

Total UK footfall fell 2.1% on a year earlier, according to data from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and Sensormatic, which tracks visitor numbers to retail locations.

That was an improvement on the 3.4% drop recorded in June.

High streets took the heaviest hit, with footfall down 3.8% year on year, against a 6.2% fall the previous month.

Shopping centre footfall was down 1.4%, compared with a 2.5% drop in June.

England recorded the weakest performance of any UK nation, with an overall decline of 3%.

London fared worst, down 5.3%, underlining the difficulties facing large urban centres during periods of extreme heat.

10.55am: Fresnillo shines

Precious metals miner Fresnillo PLC (LSE:FRES) continues to lead the charge on the London market this morning, jumping 5.4% on a close to 2% improvement in the gold price to $4,318.77 an ounce, while silver is over 5% higher at $64.64. Fellow gold miner Endeavour is up 1.9%.

That's helped lift the FTSE 100 51 points higher to 10,919.35, a gain of close to half a percent. 

Oil remains elevated, too, at around $82 a barrel, reviving fears about inflationary pressures, commented AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.

“Draft terms in an agreement over the Strait of Hormuz between Iran and Oman hinted at Tehran’s leverage in the region – with mooted bans for US and Israeli shipping likely to do little to calm tensions," Mould said. 

"All eyes will be on the latest US jobs report later," he added. “A higher-than-expected number might prompt concerns about the economy overheating while a lower than anticipated reading could shift worries towards the potential for a downturn in the world’s largest economy.”

9.55am: More market movers

Goodwin PLC (LSE:GDWN) shares surged 13% to 21,250p after the engineering group confirmed it is exploring the sale of a substantial part of its mechanical engineering division. The strategic review aims to maximise shareholder value, with Rothschild advising the process, although the company stressed there is no certainty a transaction will be completed. Read more

Genel Energy PLC (LSE:GENL, FRA:4VL, OTC:GEGYY) shares climbed 13% to 56.6p after rejecting a £202 million takeover approach from Norwegian rival DNO. DNO has now gone public with its 69p-a-share cash offer, saying it remains open to talks and arguing the deal would create a larger regional producer while giving investors an immediate premium. Read more

Oxford BioMedica PLC (LSE:OXB) shares tumbled 19% to 479p after the cell and gene therapy group cut its 2026 guidance, with EBITDA expectations slashed by around half. The downgrade reflects delayed client programmes, procurement changes and a slower-than-expected integration of its North Carolina site, although brokers maintained their buy ratings. Read more

9am: Marking time 

The FTSE 100 is holding onto most of its early gains, now up 18 points at 10,886.01, lifted by a pop in the gold price which boosted Endeavour Mining and Fresnillo, while AstraZeneca PLC (LSE:AZN, NASDAQ:AZN) has recovered some recent losses as the risk of a merger with Bristol-Myers Squibb of the US receded. Housebuilders are lagging despite a solid update from Persimmon PLC (LSE:PSN) yesterday, while International Consolidated Airlines has slipped on the rising oil price.

Richard Hunter, head of markets at interactive investor, said investors are largely keeping their powder dry amid the usual contradictory noises from parties involved in the Middle East conflict.

Attention now turns to US non-farm payrolls, with forecasts pointing to 80,000 jobs added in July, up from 57,000 in June, though Hunter noted the range of estimates is unusually wide. With inflation concerns lingering, wage growth and unemployment data could prove market-moving, given markets are split roughly evenly between a September rate hike and no change from the Federal Reserve.

Oil is still trading around $83 a barrel, with Hunter noting scepticism around reports of a possible Strait of Hormuz resolution given the "many false dawns" seen in recent months, while separate reports of a proposed ban on US and Israeli vessels risk further destabilisation.

8.15am: FTSE 100 defies market nerves

The FTSE 100 is off to a positive start, despite market concerns around Iran's position on the Strait of Hormuz, which has sent oil prices higher, with the focus now on US payroll data out this afternoon. 

About 15 minutes into Friday's session, the blue-chip index is up 30 points at 10,897.58.

Precious metals company Fresnillo PLC (LSE:FRES) is top of the leaderboard with a 3% jump, buoyed by higher gold and silver prices. Metlen Energy & Metals PLC (LSE:MTLN) has gained 1.9% and Endeavour Mining PLC (LSE:EDV, TSX:EDV, OTCQX:EDVMF, FRA:6E2) is up 0.9%.

Brent crude's move above $83 a barrel has boosted BP PLC (LSE:BP.) 0.9% in early trade, while JD Sports Fashion PLC (LSE:JD., OTC:JDSPY) is also 0.9% higher after announcing the appointment of former IKEA Group president and CEO Peter Agnefjäll as chair of the board with effect from 1 September 2026.

Among the morning's decliners, Rentokil Initial PLC (LSE:RTO) has slipped 1.6%, Persimmon PLC (LSE:PSN) is down 1.1% and International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (LSE:IAG) is 1% lower, perhaps on the rising oil price. 

FTSE 100 Live: Markets on edge ahead of open

The FTSE 100 is expected to edge lower as the week draws to a close, with conditions attached to the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and July's US payrolls data keeping investors on the sidelines.

London's blue-chip index has been called seven points down on the futures market, after finishing Thursday's session 20 points weaker at 10,867.

Brent crude's rise back above $80 a barrel weighed on US stocks overnight, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average pulling back from its record high as higher Treasury yields also dampened sentiment. The Dow fell 0.9%, the S&P 500 slipped 0.2%, and the Nasdaq edged 0.1% lower.

Energy markets were the key focus after oil rebounded sharply, with Brent climbing roughly 3.5% as investors watched developments around the Strait of Hormuz reopening, stoking concerns over global supply. Having traded at $79.50 a barrel this time yesterday, Brent has jumped to $83.82 this morning.

Deutsche Bank's Jim Reid said markets have "edged a bit more nervously into the end of the week" after preliminary details of a finalised Iran-Oman deal to reopen the Strait emerged. According to Fars News Agency, the terms include a permitting and licensing framework and a ban on US and Israeli vessels transiting the Strait. 

On the deal's terms, Reid explained that US and Israeli vessels - and cargo linked to Israel - would be barred from transiting, while countries deemed to have damaged Iran would be refused permits until compensation is paid, with violators facing penalties of up to 20% of cargo value. "So this seems to be Iran setting the terms," he said. Reuters reported separately that Iran is seeking fees of 5-7% of cargo value for ships transiting Hormuz, with Oman discussing 3%, both above the ad hoc payments Iran reportedly received in spring. Reid flagged the open question of whether such terms would be acceptable to Washington, though President Donald Trump's limited comments overnight avoided escalation, saying things are "moving along good."

On today's main event, Reid said it's "another payrolls Friday," with Deutsche Bank economists expecting a slight uptick in headline (+65k, vs +57k previously) and private (+65k, vs +49k) payrolls - both below consensus estimates of 80k. They expect unemployment to hold at 4.2% on a rounded basis, though Reid flagged a risk of a tick up to 4.3% given last month's reading was accompanied by a fall in labour force participation.