London stocks open higher as oil eases on plans for more US-Iran talks

The Intertek de-merger “may come as a surprise,” says analyst Joe Brent at Panmure Liberum, as the company “has typically not sold businesses, unlike others (e.g. Eurofins who have announced the sale of their electrical operations to UL Solutions today for €575m).”

However, he notes that consumer products and corporate assurance are the two highest-margin divisions, and both have strong growth outlooks, so a successful de-merger “would therefore increase the quality of that part of the group”.

Brent adds three key points on the macroeconomic backdrop to the potential split: 1) There are concerns around Oil & Gas, but consumer and US construction seem robust; 2) Intertek is exposed to high-growth geographies; and 3) AI presents opportunities for productivity improvements and growth.

He flags that the shares are trading on a PE of 14.2x, which is a discount to peers and its historic average.

“A de-merger may be earnings dilutive, as overheads are increased, but we would expect the Consumer Products and Corporate Assurance businesses to trade on a much higher rating.”

The US and Iran will send negotiation teams back to Islamabad in Pakistan later this week to resume peace talks, according to a Reuters report.

Talks will focus on easing tensions and exploring steps toward a broader agreement, the sources said.

Meanwhile, some maritime traffic has made it through the Strait of Hormuz in the face of the US blockade.

A Chinese-owned tanker under US sanctions passed through, data from Kpler and MarineTraffic showed earlier today.

President Trump posted last night that 34 ships traversed the Strait yesterday, “by far the highest number since this foolish closure began”.

The FTSE 100 has inched higher in Tuesday’s opening trades, led by gains for miners, airlines and various others.

Testing and inspection group Intertek Group has jumped over 13% to top the early leaderboard after it launched a strategic review that could lead to a break-up of the business.

Next come miners Fresnillo, Antofagasta, Endeavour and Anglo American, all up arond 2-3%, with British Airways owner IAG and commodities and mining giant Glencore not far behind.

On the other side of the coin, Imperial Brands is leading the fallers, down 5.3%, as its trading update does not appear to be well-received.

Sector rival British American Tobacco is down 1% as investors read across.

Defence group BAE Systems is down 1% on potential lowering of heat from the Middle East conflict.

BP is down 0.65% as its bullish trading update is offset by a fall in the price of oil futures. Shell is down 0.5%.

Imperial Brands has kept its full-year guidance unchanged as pricing in its core tobacco business continues to offset volume declines, while investment in next-generation products (NGPs) weighed on profits.

The FTSE 100 tobacco group said it expects low-single-digit growth in tobacco and NGP net revenue in the first half, with adjusted operating profit slightly higher year on year.

Growth is expected to accelerate in the second half, in line with previous guidance, as earlier price increases feed through and investment phasing supports performance.

Tobacco pricing remains the main driver of growth, while newer categories such as heated tobacco, vaping and oral nicotine continue to expand, though losses from NGPs are likely to increase slightly.

Total UK retail sales were up 3.6% last month compared to a year ago, up from 1.1% growth in February, according to the British Retail Consortium.

Like-for-like sales rose by 3.1% year-on-year in March, up from 0.7% in February, well above the consensus forecast of 0.9%.

Food sales increased 6.8%, above the 2.9% growth in February and the 12-month average of 4.3%.

Non-food sales edged up 0.9%, improving from 0.4% the month before but below the 12-month average growth of 1.1%.

Helen Dickinson, the BRC chief executive, said it was an earlier Easter that “provided a much-needed boost to food sales as families came together over the long weekend”.

Inflation was the “key factor” for driving the value of food and drink sales higher, according to Linda Ellett at KPMG.

(As a Deutsche Bank analyst pointed out yesterday, as demand for food is relatively resilient, grocers are “largely able to pass through cost inflation“, ie raise prices to maintain their margins.)

Dickinson says non-food was “more uneven”, with robust demand for computers, toys, and homeware, but clothing and footwear continued to struggle.

“The disruption to international travel caused by the Middle East conflict also hit sales of travel-related goods.”

She said the outlook is “uncertain” for the sector, as the Gulf war has damaged supply chains, with rising costs for shipping, fertiliser, insurance and commodities.

BP says its first-quarter results will be shaped by volatile commodity markets, with stronger trading and refining margins partly offset by higher costs.

The oil major has released a trading update ahead of full first-quarter results later in April, with the big difference from the previous quarter being that Brent crude oil averaged $81 a barrel in the period, up from $63.73 in the previous quarter.

It expects upstream production to be broadly flat compared with the fourth quarter of 2025, with slightly higher gas output offset by a small decline in oil production.

Oil trading is described as “exceptional” compared with a weak prior quarter.

A flat start for the FTSE 100 is predicted on Tuesday, as oil prices eased on renewed optimism that the US and Iran might still reach a peace deal.

London’s blue-chip share index has been called around two points higher on the futures market, having dropped almost 18 points at the start of the week to close at 10,582.96.

US stocks reversed a negative start to finish higher overnight, with the Nasdaq climbing 1.2% and the S&P 500 rising just over 1%, while the Dow Jones added 0.6%.

Asian markets are mixed this morning, with the Nikkei and Kospi are storming 2.2% and 3% higher in Tokyo and Seoul, while in Mumbai the Sensex has dropped 0.9%.

Brent crude is back down to $98.40 a barrel, having topped $103 on Monday.

“The market optimism has continued this morning,” says macro analyst Henry Allen at Deutsche Bank, saying the drop in crude prices is “easing fears about a stagflationary shock”.

“So as far as markets are concerned, the expectation remains that this is still likely to be a temporary conflict, with the oil futures curve heavily downward-sloping.”

He notes that the mood steadily improved after Donald Trump said: “I can tell you that we’ve been called by the other side. They’d like to make a deal very badly”.

The US and Iran are in discussions about another round of negotiations, Bloomberg has reported, with the goal being to hold those talks before the two-week ceasefire expires in a week’s time, echoing a similar a story from Axios earlier in the day.