The FTSE 100 slipped in risk-off trade on Thursday as investors reacted to the news that the US was considering launching an attack against Iran.

It would mark a significant escalation in the Middle East conflict and threatens to stoke inflationary pressures for major economies that are already seeing signs of economic slowdown.

London’s leading index was 0.3% weaker at the time of writing.

“Markets are back under pressure as US officials continue to weigh the possibility of direct involvement in the escalating Iran-Israel conflict,” said Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown.

“Any move in that direction would likely rattle investor confidence further, raising fears of a broader regional escalation and dragging in other major powers like China, where trade talks with the US are already on a knife’s edge. The FTSE 100 has mirrored the global risk-off mood, slipping in early trading and giving back yesterday’s modest gains.”

Markets were also digesting the latest instalment from the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England and their decisions to keep rates on hold and wait for further data.

“Central banks are in a ‘wait and see’ mood with regards to interest rates, despite broad concerns about a weaker economic outlook,” explained Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell. 

Most stocks were down at the time of writing in London as investors trimmed positions amid rising Middle East tensions.

A number of the top fallers, such as Persimmon and United Utilities, were trading lower after losing the rights to their latest dividends.

BP and Shell were again among the gainers as oil prices ticked higher.

Defensive ‘safer’ stocks also gained on the session. Supermarkets Tesco and Sainsbury’s rose, while the safety of Vodafone’s reliable cash flows caught the attention of investors, with shares adding 1%.

Whitbread

Whitbread shares fell on Thursday after the hospitality group said its UK Premier Inn chain suffered a 2% drop in accommodation sales in the first quarter. The group’s UK food and beverage sales sank 16%. Germany remained a bright spot, but growth of 16% wasn’t enough to offset weakness in the UK.

“Normally-reliable Whitbread provided an unpleasant surprise for investors with their poorer update this morning,” said Chris Beauchamp, Chief Market Analyst at IG.

“Always a useful bellwether of the UK consumer, Whitbread suggests that the economy is still in a tough patch, though the better Germany performance was at least some comfort for investors. Hopefully the longer-term turnaround will bear fruit in due course; once a star performer, Whitbread’s shares have lost direction over the last decade, although the dividend helps to boost their attractiveness.”

Tekcapital portfolio company Guident has achieved a first in the autonomous vehicle safety technology industry by successfully teleoperating a fully automated bus from over 1,200 miles away.

Guident Corp, in which Tekcapital has a 70% stake, partnered with ADASTEC to remotely control an SAE Level-4 autonomous electric bus operating on Michigan State University’s campus. The vehicle was controlled in near real-time from Guident’s Remote Monitor and Control Centre in Boca Raton, Florida.

This marks the first known instance of long-distance remote driving of a full-size automated bus in an operational transit setting.

“This successful deployment is a significant milestone for safe, scalable autonomous transit,” said Harald Braun, Chairman & CEO of Guident.

“Remote assistance isn’t just a feature, it’s essential for every self-driving vehicle program. By having skilled people support autonomous systems from anywhere, we can address the current limits of technology, quickly resolve unexpected issues, and make self-driving vehicles safer and more reliable for everyone.”

The development comes as Guident prepares for a proposed NASDAQ IPO.

Today’s announcement also follows several recent commercial updates from Guident, including the deployment of autonomous shuttles in West Palm Beach and entry to the robotics markets.

Guident’s technology

Guident’s partnership with ADASTEC specifically targets “edge cases” – scenarios where autonomous systems encounter situations beyond their programmed capabilities.

Level 4 autonomous vehicles can operate without human intervention within defined parameters, including specific geographic areas, road types, weather conditions, and speed ranges.

However, when these systems face unexpected circumstances, human intervention becomes necessary.

Guident’s Remote Monitor and Control Centre provides this crucial safety layer. The system enables human-in-the-loop teleoperation as a complement to ADASTEC’s automated driving platform, offering real-time monitoring, remote assistance, and direct remote control when required.

ADASTEC holds the distinction of being first in the United States to deploy a full-size automated bus on public roads in mixed traffic conditions at Michigan State University.

Recruitment firm Hays has painted a pretty dismal picture of trading conditions in an update released on Thursday.

The firm warned it expects pre-exceptional operating profit of around £45 million for the year ending 30 June, well below the analyst consensus of £56.4 million, as challenging permanent recruitment markets hit performance.

Hays shares were down 13% at the time of writing.

Yesterday, we reported on plant hire company Speedy Hire’s struggles with slow economic conditions. It appears the recruitment industry is also facing similar headwinds.

The company said activity levels declined during its fourth quarter, driven by broad-based weakness in permanent recruitment markets globally due to low client and candidate confidence amid macroeconomic uncertainty.

Temporary and contracting activity proved more resilient, but still contracted.

Group like-for-like net fees are expected to fall 9% year-on-year in the fourth quarter, with permanent recruitment down 14% and temporary and contracting declining 5%. This will be a blow to investors, but not entirely unexpected.

Hays is a global operation, and although regional performance varied significantly, there was a strong theme of weakness throughout most markets.

Germany, Hays’ largest market, saw net fees drop 5% with particular weakness in the automotive sector. The UK and Ireland division faced a 13% decline in net fees, whilst Australia and New Zealand fell 9%.

Rest of world net fees declined 9% overall, with EMEA excluding Germany down 13% due to challenging permanent markets, particularly in France. Asia remained relatively stable with fees down 3%, whilst the Americas saw only a 1% decline, supported by 5% growth in North America.

Despite cost-cutting efforts to reduce the cost base, Hays only managed a £1 million savings to lower costs to around £75 million from £76 million in the third quarter. The largely fixed nature of costs meant lower fees flowed through directly to reduced profitability.

Hays expects current challenging conditions to persist into the next financial year. Investors aren’t sticking around to see what this looks like, and shares sank on Thursday.

The Smarter Web Company, a London-listed technology firm, has announced the acquisition of an additional 104.28 Bitcoin worth £8.1 million as part of its long-term cryptocurrency investment strategy.

The purchase, made at an average price of £77,751 per Bitcoin (equivalent to $104,451), represents the latest move in the company’s “10 Year Plan,” which includes an ongoing treasury policy focused on Bitcoin accumulation.

With this recent acquisition, Smarter Web Company’s total Bitcoin holdings have reached 346.63 Bitcoin, representing a cumulative investment of £27.2 million. The company’s overall average purchase price across all Bitcoin acquisitions stands at £78,480 per Bitcoin ($105,430).

Smarter Web Company shares were trading at 382.5p at the time of writing, valuing the company at over £800m.

The technology company, which trades on the AQUIS exchange under the ticker SWC and on the OTCQB market as TSWCF, has taken the market by storm after listing with a market cap of under £5m.

The Smarter Web Company has Bitcoin holdings of around £27m and cash of around £20m. The sharp disconnect between the company’s assets may persist for a while longer, but such disparities rarely last forever.

In addition to the latest Bitcoin purchase, the company announced the signing of a subscription agreement for 21 million newly issued shares. Of the 21 million, 7 million have been made available in an initial tranche, which can’t be placed at a price lower than the previous day’s closing price.

The Smarter Web Company sparked a wave of companies in London adopting a Bitcoin treasury that emulates US counterparts such as MicroStrategy.

It’s going to be interesting to see what happens with these recent adopters if Bitcoin falls and these companies need cash to fund ongoing operations.

The FTSE 100 was broadly flat on Wednesday as investors continued to digest the latest developments in the escalating conflict between Iran and Israel.

London’s leading index was up 0.1% at the time of writing. The German DAX fell 0.1%, and US futures were creeping higher.

The FTSE 100’s weighting towards oil stocks BP and Shell has helped the index navigate the risk-off tone to trade this week, but investors are facing a wider predicament as oil prices rise.

Major economies face the risk of inflationary pressures from rising fuel prices, while businesses are still counting the costs of Donald Trump’s tariffs. Equity markets have been remarkably resilient, but some may question whether there is an element of complacency to current positioning given the increasing risks to growth.

“As tensions in the Middle East continue to escalate, oil prices remain in the ascendancy and stocks are enduring volatility,” explained AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.

“Concern the US might join Israel’s military effort against Iran, after comments from President Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform, saw US shares fall overnight and briefly pushed Brent crude oil above $77 per barrel before it eased back a touch.

“Iran is a significant exporter of oil in its own right and there will be concern it might try and obstruct the Strait of Hormuz – through which a healthy chunk of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas passes.”

Mould continued to outline the impact on central bank thinking at a time when markets are desperate for an easing of monetary policy.

“If higher oil prices stick it would act as a renewed inflationary pressure and this further complicates the decision making of the US Federal Reserve which is set to announce its latest decision on interest rates tonight.”

FTSE 100 movers

Howden Joinery was the FTSE 100’s top faller after peer Speedy Hire reported falling volumes that suggest a soft construction industry. Howden Joinery shares were down 3% at the time of writing.

Ashtead shares pulled back 2.4% after a positive update yesterday sent the stock higher.

AstraZeneca and GSK were among the top fallers after Donald Trump warned of tariffs on pharmaceuticals of 25% or more. Trump has warned of pharma tariffs before and is yet to follow through with any firm measures.

Melrose was the FTSE 100’s top riser as it continued its recovery from a sharp sell-off following Trump’s tariff announcements.

Speedy Hire is displaying the strains of an uncertain economy. The company is heavily reliant on a healthy construction sector and falling revenue for the year ended March is symptomatic of what the company called ‘macro-economic challenges’.

Revenue for the period fell 1.2% to £416.6m, and profit before tax slid 40% to £8.7m.

Shares were down 3% on Wednesday after a strong run in the stock from April lows. Although falling profits and revenue will be a concern for investors, there are some positives to take away from today’s update.

Much of the decline in revenue can be attributed to the lower pass-through cost of fuel as wholesale prices fell. Service revenue, excluding fuel, actually increased 4.5%. Hire revenue rose 0.6%. The rates of increase are small, but not disastrous.

However, the upticks in revenue were a result of price increases. Volumes for key national customers declined during the period.

Inflation is particularly damaging for Speedy Hire as it increases their cost base and forces them to increase the prices they charge customers who are horribly price sensitive. Speedy Hire outlined actions to control costs, but a slow economy is out of their hands.

“It’s been anything but a smooth ride for Speedy Hire. Grappling with spiralling costs and softening demand, the tool and equipment rental firm has found itself under mounting pressure as challenging economic conditions have pushed the business close to its limits. With both revenue and profit falling short of estimates, Speedy Hire’s full-year results will have done little to shore up investor confidence,” said Mark Crouch, market analyst for eToro.

“The broader trend of businesses tightening their belts is already troubling, but Network Rail’s decision to delay spending on its £45.4 billion five-year infrastructure programme has delivered yet another hammer blow.

“Now, Speedy Hire is stuck in a classic catch-22. To win new contracts, it needs to ramp up capital expenditure, fuelled by debt. But with the economy on shaky ground and delays in government spending weighing on major projects, taking on more debt could end up fixing one problem while wrenching open another.”