The FTSE 100 recorded its sharpest weekly decline in eleven months as escalating tensions in the Middle East weighed heavily on investor sentiment.
The benchmark index closed 129 points lower on the day at 10,284, a fall of 1.24%. Over the course of the week, the FTSE 100 has dropped 5.75%, marking its worst weekly performance since the week ending 4 April 2025, when market turbulence followed the “Liberation Day” tariffs introduced by Donald Trump.
The sell-off came as energy prices surged. Brent crude was trading around $90.87 a barrel after earlier climbing to $91.89 — its highest level in nearly two years.
Oil prices were pushed higher by reports that Kuwait had begun cutting production at some fields after running out of storage capacity for crude that could no longer be exported. Prices were also lifted after Qatar’s energy minister, Saad al-Kaabi warned that crude prices could surge to $150 a barrel within two to three weeks if tankers and merchant vessels remain unable to transit the Strait of Hormuz.
The disruption is already forcing producers to adjust output.
Kuwait has begun cutting oil production as storage facilities fill up with crude that can no longer be shipped out of the Gulf. Kuwait is the world’s tenth-largest producer of crude oil, pumping roughly 3 million barrels per day — equivalent to about 3% of global supply.
