Friday 31 July 2026 6:30 am | Updated: Friday 31 July 2026 4:06 pm

As it happened: Stocks reach new record as investors shrug off Iran war fears

Welcome back to the City AM FTSE 100 live blog

Welcome back to the City AM liveblog.

It’s Friday morning and the FTSE 100 has opened into the green, following two consecutive days of record gains for the blue-chip index.

London’s blue-chip index was up as high as 0.7 per cent in early trading to 10,971.88p,

“The FTSE 100 tested new record highs on Friday morning as investors continue to climb the wall of worry and sentiment improves,” said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.

He added Microsoft’s “extremely well-received numbers” on Wall Street had helped “lift the broader market mood.” Meanwhile in London, miners were leading the pack as the City market welcomed a slew of positive corporate updates.

Mould said these updates were “helping investors to put concerns about the Iran conflict and its continuing impact on ice for now”.

Wall Street made huge gains overnight. The tech-heavy Nasdaq surged 2.8 per cent while the blue-chip S&P gained 1.7 per cent. This comes despite growing tensions in the Middle East, after the US launched “heavy” strikes on Iran and its proxies in Iraq and Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps took responsibility for strikes on Kuwait and Jordan.

Andrew Bailey, the Bank of England Governor, helped relieve some pressures on Thursday, stating it was “too early” to conclude that the UK was set for a long period of high inflation after the bank left rates unchanged at 3.75 per cent.

Officials on the Monetary Policy Committee said recent data showing that inflation had eased to 2.6 per cent offered the Bank some relief and allowed them to stick to current monetary policy.

We’ll be bringing you the latest market updates and analysis as the day develops.