UK Shares Fall as Ceasefire Deadline Nears; Associated British Foods Shares Down Amid Primark Plans
London's FTSE 100 closed Tuesday trading 1.05% in the red as the US and Iran's two-week ceasefire nears its expiration on Wednesday evening Eastern time.US President Donald Trump said he does not want to extend the ceasefire deadline and expects "to be bombing" if the two sides fail to reach a deal, according to a phone interview on CNBC's Squawk Box.In economic news back home, Britain's unemployment rate stood at 4.9% in the three months to February, according to data from the Office for National Statistics. Analysts expected unemployment to remain stable at 5.2%. Meanwhile, wage growth slowed to 3.8% from a revised 4.1% including bonuses and to 3.6% from 3.8% excluding them, slightly above forecasts of 3.6% and 3.5%, respectively."The Bank of England's (BoE's) preferred measure of pay growth slowed to the pace it believes is consistent with CPI inflation meeting the 2% target," Berenberg said. "Taking the official and survey data in the round, our view is that the jobs market stabilised. However, forward looking indicators flag a risk of further deterioration. In either case, few job vacancies relative to the number of people looking for work should prevent a rise in energy prices from setting off a new price-wage spiral."At Downing Street, long‑term fixed‑price contracts for renewables were proposed alongside increased taxation on excess revenues generated from electricity production to sever the link between international gas prices and electricity rates across the UK. "Our focus is simple: easing pressure on household budgets now, while building a homegrown energy system that protects families from global instability in the years ahead," UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said.In corporate news, Associated British Foods (ABF.L) dropped 2.68% as it plans to demerge its fast-fashion retail business, Primark, from its FoodCo business and list them as separate entities."ABF reported their H1-26 results today and, as we expected, will demerge Primark (which will be completed by Sep-27). This is a good decision in the long-term but which will not create short-term value on our estimates," Bernstein said. "The business remains weak across the board with profits declining -17% YoY and margins compressing -150 [basis points], driven by weakness in Primark, grocery and sugar. Vs. consensus, revenue was broadly in line (-0.5%) but EBIT missed by -5% (driven by grocery) whilst Primark margins were a little stronger (+20bps beat but this included a non-recurring benefit, which if excluded, leads to a margin miss)."On the upside, data and technology company Experian (EXPN.L) climbed 2.34%, taking a spot among the top performers on the blue-chip index, after appointing Adam Crozier as its chair designate, effective May 12.