Tuesday 25 August 2026 6:30 am
| Updated:
Tuesday 25 August 2026 6:13 am
Welcome back to the City AM FTSE 100 liveblog.
Welcome back to the City AM FTSE 100 liveblog.The blue-chip index is set to edge up on Tuesday morning, according to futures from investment platform IG.The FTSE 100 closed 0.4 per cent higher at 10,854.32 on Monday. The mid-cap FTSE 250 finished down slightly at 24,717.48 while the small-cap AIM All-Share wound up 0.3 per cent higher at 814.04.Diageo, LSEG and Airtel Africa were among the biggest large-cap risers, each gaining about three per cent, while oil major BP dragged on the index, losing nearly three per cent.Investors will this morning be digesting US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s press conference last night, in which he threatened damaging new economic sanctions against Iran and countries which refuse to cut ties with it. Despite promising ahead of the announcement to set out his plans to deliver “economic D-Day,” Bessent stoped short of enacting any big new penalties on Iran or its trading partners. The Trump administration instead said it has expanded the definition of “Iran-related conduct” which it could sanction in the future.“We find that the best way to engage with countries is through quiet diplomacy, and we are level-setting with every country to tell them our expectations,” Bessent said, adding: “We know who they are. They know who they are.” Susannah Streeter, Wealth Club’s chief investment strategist, said: “The US is changing tactics in its battle against Iran, and its fight to get oil flowing more freely from the region. Sanctions are the latest weapon of choice and the arsenal is set to be unveiled at a press conference later.”The price of Brent crude – the international benchmark for oil – fell more than two per cent to just below $92 per barrel on Monday. We’ll be bringing you the latest market updates and analysis.This morning’s top stories:
