-- London's FTSE 100 was downbeat on Wednesday, closing 0.21% lower, after the US extended its ceasefire with Iran, while the UK inflation matched expectations in March.
"In the Middle East conflict, Trump extended the ceasefire indefinitely just before its expiry after Iran refused further negotiations due to unreasonable US demands. This marks a U-turn in tone, as Trump had earlier ruled out an extension and hinted at military action. With Iran reportedly not requesting the ceasefire and the Strait of Hormuz issue still unresolved, Iran appears to hold the upper hand at present," Danske Bank said.
In economic news back home, Britain's annual inflation rate climbed to 3.3% in March from 3% in February, according to data from the Office for National Statistics. The latest reading aligned with the consensus estimate.
"Surging petrol prices explained all of the rise in CPI inflation from 3.0% yoy in February to 3.3% yoy in March, as forecasters expected," Berenberg said. "Away from energy prices inflation behaved well, as shown by the unexpected drop in the core inflation rate from 3.2% yoy to 3.1% yoy (Bloomberg consensus 3.2%). We doubt that CPI inflation will stay above 3% for much longer. Although petrol prices rose further in April, the resulting upward pressure on the headline rate should be more than offset by government intervention and helpful base effects."
In corporate news, distribution and outsourcing group Bunzl (BNZL.L) gained 2.12% to become one of the biggest gainers on the blue-chip index after affirming its 2026 revenue guidance while logging a 1.5% revenue growth at constant exchange rates for the first quarter.
"Reassurance from BNZL's Q1 update with the FY26 outlook reaffirmed and ongoing confidence in the prospect for an M&A pick up in FY26, which is key to the BNZL investment case in our view," RBC Capital Markets said. "We envisage a small outperformance vs. the sector today."
Consumer goods giant Reckitt Benckiser (RKT.L), down 4.60%, was the FTSE 100's second-worst performer after group net revenue for the first quarter declined year over year to 3.25 billion pounds sterling from 3.68 billion pounds.
"Core Reckitt drove a miss on Q1 growth performance, with the biggest miss coming from Emerging Markets," RBC said in another note. "Despite the softer-than-expected performance and the current uncertainty arising from the war in the Middle East, the company has maintained its FY26 Core Reckitt [like-for-like] growth guidance (+4-5%) as the company expect to benefit from the reset of the cold & flu season and continue strong performance in Emerging Markets."