FTSE 100 LIVE: Stocks rise as Trump vows to end Iran war without Hormuz deal

Based on the Kantar report above, here is a breakdown of the market share…

Lidl increased its market share by 0.5 per cent – more than any other retailer – in the 12 weeks to 22 March, to 8.3%, with sales at the discount up 9.6% year-on-year.

Online-only retailer Ocado grew even faster, with sales up 12.3% and now taking a 2.2% market share.

Sainsbury’s attracted more new households than any other retailer, with 387,000 more customers through the doors than in the same quarter last year.

Tesco made a similar share gain, an increase of 0.3 per cent, giving them 28% of total sales, while spend at the supermarket in Britain rose by 5%.

Asda held 11.6% of the market with sales down 0.9%, although this marked its best performance since April 2024.

Average spend per trip drove sales growth of 5.8% at Waitrose, its fastest growth rate in five years.

The price of groceries held at 4.3% in March amid warnings that the figure “may increase” as the conflict in the Middle East continues.

Conditions that “make consumers feel vulnerable” were “only getting better”, with more than 20% of Britons describing themselves as having financial problems and more than 60% being very concerned about the rising price of groceries even before the start of the war, Worldpanel by Numerator said.

It warned that every 1% of the inflation rate could add £50 to the annual supermarket bill for the average household.

Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insights at Worldpanel, said:

However, more than 40% of consumers bought at least one pack of hot cross buns in the last four weeks and 30% bought at least one Easter egg, despite prices rising.

The UK economy showed muted growth at the end of last year, official figures confirmed on Tuesday, but fears are growing over the impact of the Iran war and rising inflation as oil prices rise.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) kept its forecast for the October to December quarter unchanged at 0.1%, following unadjusted growth of 0.1% in the previous three months.

The ONS increased the 2025 overall output to 1.4%, up from the previous growth of 1.3% reported due to updated expenditure figures, but the latest figures showed the economy slowed in January when output was next to nothing.

Poor economic performance means the UK is heading into the Iran war from a weak position, experts have warned, with last week’s estimates from the influential Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) putting Britain at the lowest level of any major economy.

Director of economic statistics Liz McKeown said:

A HM Treasury representative said: “In an uncertain world we have the right economic plan.

“We were the fastest growing European economy in the G7 last year and now we are going even further by using regional growth, AI and a close relationship with the EU to grow our economy.”

Single-board computer company Raspberry Pi ( RPI.L ) reported a better-than-expected 25% rise in annual earnings to $46.4m (£35.1m) on Tuesday.

It was boosted by strengthening demand and good unit economics in the second quarter.

The British company shipped 4 million units in the second half, giving a total of 7.6 million for the year, up 7% in 2024.

It said that strong sales momentum had been experienced in the first months of this year, but warned that the outlook for the second half was limited by disruptions in the DRAM market.

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UK house prices rose by 0.9% month-on-month in March, putting the average house cost at £277,186, according to the latest data from Nationwide.

That was up from an average price of £273,176 in February. The latest national home price index, released on Tuesday, showed that annual home prices rose 2.2% in March, up from 1% annual growth in March.

In the first quarter, Nationwide said that UK house prices increased by 1.5% compared to the same period last year, and by 0.7% in the adjusted period compared to the previous three months.

Regionally, Northern Ireland saw the biggest growth in house prices in the first quarter, with the average house price increasing by 9.5% year-on-year to £225,269.

That was followed by the North West, where the average house price rose 3.3% to £229,173 in the first quarter compared to the same period last year.

In London, house prices rose 1.7% year-on-year in the first quarter, to £538,181.

Robert Gardner, a leading economist across the country, said:

Gardner added that the outlook for interest rates is “unstable and largely uncertain and depends on whether the demand or supply side of the economy is more adversely affected”.

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Asian stocks were lower last night, with the Nikkei (^N225) down 1.6% on the day in Japan, while the Hang Seng (^HSI) fell 0.4% in Hong Kong.

The Shanghai Composite (000001.SS) was down 0.7 at the end of the session and South Korea’s Kospi (^KS11) lost 4.3% on the day.

It came despite a moderate surprise in China’s official PMIs, with a higher annual manufacturing PMI of 50.4 (compared to 50.1 expected), while the non-manufacturing PMI rose to 50.1, against 49.9 forecast.

Bad feelings were fueled by the Kuwait Petroleum Corp overnight that an oil tanker was attacked by Iran at the port of Dubai, causing a fire, although the report of the Wall Street Journal says that president Trump told aides that he intends to end the US military campaign against Iran, although the Strait of Hormuz is still largely closed.

Across the pond on Wall Street, stocks were mixed at the close, with the S&P 500 (^GSPC) down 0.4% to 6,343.72, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq (^IXIC) was 0.7% lower at 20,794.64. The Dow Jones (^DJI) gained 0.1%, closing at 45,216.14.

Retail prices rose in March as higher costs from the Middle East conflict began to permeate supply chains, figures show.

Overall retail prices were 1.2% higher than a year earlier, up from 1.1% in February but still below the three-month average of 1.3%, according to data from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and NIQ.

The BRC warned that the “storm clouds” have “diminished” and noted that the headline figure rose even as the price of food fell from 3.5% to 3.4% due to falling milk prices due to low milk costs.

The price of non-food items rose 0.1% against a fall of 0.1% in February despite retailers offering promotions on alcohol, televisions and sound systems in the run-up to the final Six Nations tournament, as well as clothes and shoes to entice shoppers to spend.

BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said:

Hello and welcome to our markets live blog. As usual we’ll be taking a deep dive into what’s driving the markets, and what’s happening in our global economy.

Looking ahead to the day ahead now, data releases include the Euro Area flash CPI for March, German unemployment for March, the US Conference Board’s consumer confidence index for March, the JOLTS jobs outlook for February, and the FHFA home price index for January.

From the central bankers, we will hear from the Fed’s Goolsbee, Barr and Bowman, and the ECB’s Panetta, Muller, Kazimir and Sleijpen.

Here’s a picture of what’s on today’s show:

• 7am: Business updates: Pets, AG Barr, James Halstead, Hilton Food, Raspberry Pi, Princes Group.

• 10am: Eurozone inflation