12.05.202607:29:34UTC+00FTSE 100 Trades at 6-Week Low

The FTSE 100 fell around 1% to a six-week low on Tuesday, as mounting doubts over the durability of the US-Iran ceasefire and growing political uncertainty in the UK weighed on investor sentiment. Pressure on Prime Minister Keir Starmer intensified after reports that more than 70 Labour MPs have urged him to set out a timetable for his departure following weak local election results, deepening concerns over domestic political stability. At the same time, President Trump warned that the ceasefire with Iran was on “massive life support” after Tehran’s latest response to a US-backed peace proposal.

The banking sector led the decline, with HSBC down 1.5%, Lloyds Banking Group losing 4%, Barclays falling 4.4%, NatWest sliding 4.6%, and Standard Chartered retreating 2%. Pharmaceutical heavyweights AstraZeneca and GSK also moved lower. Vodafone dropped more than 2.5% despite delivering earnings ahead of expectations and returning to growth in Germany, its largest market. Providing some support to the index, oil majors Shell and BP advanced as crude prices remained elevated amid ongoing tensions in the Middle East.