London's FTSE 100 muted as Iran escalates strikes on US bases
London's FTSE 100 muted as Iran escalates strikes on US bases For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock markets, click LIVE/ or type LIVE/ in a news window
July 13 (Reuters) - UK's FTSE 100 was little changed on Monday as a rally in oil prices boosted energy stocks, helping offset losses in financial shares, while investors assessed renewed military exchanges between the U.S. and Iran.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 index .FTSE rose 0.03% to 10499.88 points by 0927 GMT, while the midcap FTSE 250 .FTMC slipped 0.1%.
Escalating tensions between Washington and Tehran raised concerns over the durability of an agreement reached last month to maintain traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and facilitate further talks.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Monday they had targeted U.S. military facilities in Bahrain and Kuwait, destroyed radar systems in Oman, and hit fuel tanks and ammunition depots at Prince Hassan Air Base in Jordan in response to U.S. strikes.
Oil prices rose over 3%, sending energy stocks .FTNMX601010 up 1.1%. O/R
On the flip side, investment banks and brokerages .FTNMX302020 was the worst performing sector, after Plus500 PLUSP.L slumped 14.3% to bottom the midcap index after the fintech broker kept its annual forecast unchanged.
Precious metal miners also fell 0.6% after gold prices slipped over 1% amid inflationary concerns and bolstered expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will keep interest rates higher for longer. GOL/
Endeavour mining EDV.L, Fresnillo FRES.L and Hoschschild mining HOCM.L fell around 0.6% each.
Among individual stocks, Vodafone VOD.L topped the FTSE 100 with a 4.6% gain, extending Friday's rally, after French billionaire Xavier Niel said he planned to buy a near $6 billion stake in the telecoms group from UAE's e& EAND.AD.
(Reporting by Tharuniyaa Lakshmi in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed)