Welcome back to the City AM FTSE 100 liveblog. It’s Monday morning and the FTSE is expected to drop, with futures indicating a loss of 19 points, or 0.18 per cent. This comes off the back of a week market by fresh hostilities in the Middle East, as Iran and the US
Felix Armstrong 
Monday 27 July 2026 6:30 am | Updated: Monday 27 July 2026 6:41 am
Welcome back to the City AM FTSE 100 liveblog.
It’s Monday morning and the FTSE is expected to drop, with futures indicating a loss of 19 points, or 0.18 per cent.
This comes off the back of a week market by fresh hostilities in the Middle East, as Iran and the US traded blows and the Houthis threatened to open up a new permanent front to the conflict in the Red Sea.
Brent crude oil prices jumped to a two-month record of $100 per barrel on Thursday, before falling slightly on Friday. The FTSE 100 managed to defy the investor caution caused across many of the world’s other leading markets, with the UK’s blue-chip index gaining 1.3 per cent across the week.
US President Donald Trump said over the weekend that he is pausing strikes on Iran as an Omani delegation pursues crunch talks to secure a deal to manage shipping transit through the Strait of Hormuz. On Sunday, an oil tanker exploded on Sunday after hitting a naval mine in the Strait, according to Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency.
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Last week’s renewed tensions in the Middle East will be at the front of the minds of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee, which is widely expected to vote to hold interest rates on Thursday.
Thomas Pugh, chief economist at RSM UK, said he believes oil prices will “largely” steer the path of interest rates for the next year.
“If they remain close to 100 dollars per barrel over the summer, a September rate hike would move firmly onto the table, with another in the winter likely,” he said.
We’ll be bringing you the latest market updates and analysis as the day develops.
The weekend’s top stories: Read more As it happened: Stocks reverse losses after Trump threatens harder strikes on Iran; Oil at four-week high
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