FTSE 100 round-up: BP, Shell, Persimmon and Whitbread

Shell office in Shanghai, China. Photo: CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images.

A quarter of FTSE 100 stocks today lost 2% or more as Wall Street jitters on the back of last night’s hawkish Federal Reserve meeting fed into a weak UK stock market performance.

Miners including Glencore (LSE:GLEN) and Anglo American (LSE:AAL) were among the biggest fallers after the US dollar strengthened, making commodities more expensive for buyers in other currencies.

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The repricing of US interest rate expectations after roughly half of Fed policymakers signalled at least one increase before the year-end caused the S&P 500 index to fall 1.2% last night.

The session also included the first setback for Space Exploration Technologies Corp Class A (NASDAQ:SPCX), which lost 5% on the day but is still 42% higher than last week’s initial public offering price to stand at $191.82 a share or £2.5 trillion.

Alongside weakness for US tech-focused stocks, the dollar index rose by 0.9% and the price of gold came under fresh pressure to stand 0.8% cheaper at below $4,300 an ounce.

The federal funds rate stayed in the range of 3.5%-3.75% after last night’s central bank meeting but UBS Global Wealth Management said median rate projections for this year and up to 2028 were all revised upward.

It added:: “While the decision itself was widely anticipated, the accompanying guidance and updated projections signalled a more vigilant posture on inflation risks.”

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However, the bank also told clients this morning that the current market conviction around rate hikes in 2026 appeared somewhat aggressive.

UBS added: “If supply disruptions tied to the Middle East conflict begin to ease, some of the June meeting’s hawkish tone could fade. Slower growth trends and disinflation in the second half of the year should help support a pivot toward lower policy rates in 2027.”

US President Donald Trump’s signing of a memorandum of understanding to end the war with Iran also helped the inflation picture as the price of Brent crude oil dropped to $78 a barrel.

The developments meant BP shares dipped below 500p for the first time since mid-March, while Shell is now cheaper than before the war started after dipping under 3,000p.

The diminished appeal of holding non-yielding gold at a time of potentially rising US interest rates meant London-listed precious metals miners gave up their rebound of the past week.

West Africa’s Endeavour Mining (LSE:EDV) fell 154p to 4,280p and Fresnillo (LSE:FRES) dropped 177p to 3,133p, with the Mexican silver miner now below where it started this year.

The biggest fall in the FTSE 100 was by Persimmon (LSE:PSN), which dropped 67p to 1052p after shares began trading without the right to the 40p a share dividend due to be paid on 10 July.

The decline widened the gap to the new 1,220p price target of analysts at Bank of America after they said the housebuilder was still the most resilient name in the sector.

They cut their estimates for the current financial year in order to reflect margin pressure from build costs but have forecast a return to growth in 2028.

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Other ex-dividend stocks on the fallers board were Land Securities Group (LSE:LAND) and 3i Group Ord (LSE:III) as the FTSE 100 index reached lunchtime down by 116.02 points to 10,392.59.

The best performers included Melrose Industries (LSE:MRO), with the GKN Aerospace owner up 11.4p to 485.2p after Bank of America reiterated its Buy recommendation with 720p price target.

The shares have been under pressure due to the Iran war and a negative reaction to February’s annual results, when operating profit guidance missed the City consensus of £750 million.

With Airbus deliveries picking up again after a weak first quarter, the bank expects Melrose to benefit from an improving civil airframe growth rate in the second half of the year.

It added: “At the current share price, we believe valuation is increasingly difficult to justify.”

Whitbread (LSE:WTB) shares also opened in positive territory after the Premier Inn owner said revenue per available room continued to grow by more than the wider market, at 2% in the first quarter.

Chief executive Dominic Paul added: “Strong leisure bookings mean that our forward booked position is ahead of last year and we remain confident in the full year outlook.”

The shares later settled 22p cheaper at 2,374p, a fall of 6% this year.

Morgan Stanley, which has a price target of 2,900p, highlighted the company’s progress growing its estate, addressing food and beverage losses and improving efficiency.

It said: “We continue to be impressed by the various internal levers Whitbread is pulling to add value, despite the tough trading and cost backdrop.”