LONDON, April 6, 2026, 18:04 BST
With markets closed for Easter Monday, the FTSE 100 held steady at Thursday’s finish of 10,436.29. The London Stock Exchange confirmed that cash trading resumes at 0800 BST on April 7. The FTSE 250 mid-cap index was last seen at 21,642.30. 1
London is set to reopen in the thick of a market swayed by oil swings, ceasefire news, and changing rate bets. On Monday, global equities barely budged, while Brent crude held at $108.74 a barrel during the afternoon. UK traders now face the risk of sharp moves in energy prices or diplomatic shifts. 2
Oil prices didn’t do much to soothe nerves. Brent hovered near $109 a barrel in volatile London trading, following Pakistan’s move to pass along a two-step ceasefire plan to Washington and Tehran. Iran, however, dismissed any talk of a temporary truce, insisting on a full and lasting resolution to the conflict. SEB Research’s Ole Hvalbye flagged the weekend’s “most important headline”: a handful of vessels had managed to navigate the Strait of Hormuz, the critical artery for global oil flows. 3
London’s final cash session offered a clear example for the FTSE 100. On April 2, the benchmark added 0.6%. Energy names stood out—up 2.7%—with BP advancing 2.6% and Shell ahead 2.9%. AstraZeneca tacked on 1.9% after releasing late-stage trial results. 4
Just the day before, sentiment had swung sharply in the opposite direction, with traders dialing back expectations for further Bank of England rate hikes. The FTSE 100 surged 1.8% on April 1, while bank stocks tacked on more than 5% and defence names rallied 5.7%. London’s market leadership has been flipping fast, headline by headline. 5
Outside oil, the Bank of England still grabs attention. Governor Andrew Bailey, speaking to Reuters, warned that markets were “getting ahead of themselves” on rate hike bets, stressing the need to avoid unnecessary harm to growth and jobs. J.P. Morgan economist Allan Monks took Bailey’s tone as a sign that most policymakers aren’t on board for an April hike just yet. 6
Inflation remains unresolved. Last week, a Bank of England survey found firms planning to hike prices by 3.7% over the next year—the quickest clip since October. Pantheon Macroeconomics’ Elliott Jordan-Doak flagged lingering concerns among policymakers around so-called second-round effects, where those initial energy shocks ripple out into broader wage and price increases. 7
The bearish setup for Tuesday is clear enough: London comes back online just as oil surges again and rate pressures build. OPEC+ has a supply bump slated for May, but it’s minimal compared to the crude stranded by the Hormuz closure. Rystad Energy’s Jorge Leon put it bluntly—it’s not nearly enough extra oil while the strait remains blocked. JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon flagged the risk that the conflict could trigger “significant ongoing oil and commodity price shocks” and push interest rates beyond what traders are pricing in. 8
