BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - U.K. stocks tumbled Thursday morning, pushing the benchmark FTSE 100 down to its lowest level since June, as higher oil prices triggered inflation concerns and raised the prospects of monetary tightening by several central banks.
Data showing a sharp slowdown in house-price growth in UK hurt as well. Bank stocks were among the major losers.
Brent crude front-month futures surged to $100.79 a barrel, gaining nearly 3%, before easing slightly to $100.10 a barrel.
The FTSE 100, which slipped to 10,389.78, was down 159.03 points or 1.5% at 10,446.97 a little over half an hour before noon.
Lion Finance, Games Workshop, HSBC Holdings, Natwest Group, British American Tobacco and Standard Chartered Bank shed 3%-4.5%.
IG Group, M&G, Lloyds Banking Group, Weir, Barratt Redrow, Relx, Experian, Smith & Nephew, Babcock International, Barclays, Standard Life, Melrose Industries, AstraZeneca, United Utilities, Unilever, Reckitt Benckiser and Marks & Spencer lost 1.7%-2.9%.
Rolls-Royce Holdings moved up 1.2%. Computacenter, Polar Capital Technology Trust, Halma and Intertek Group edged up marginally.
Coca-Cola HBC, Glencore, Prudential, Rio Tinto, Anglo American Plc, GSK, Fresnillo and Antofagasta were among the other notable losers.
Data released by the Nationwide Building Society revealed UK house prices dropped unexpectedly in September, falling 0.2% on a monthly basis, offsetting a 0.2% rise in August. Prices were forecast to remain flat.
On a yearly basis, house price growth halved to 0.8% from 1.6% in the previous month, marking the weakest growth since December 2025. Economists had forecast an annual growth of 1.3%.
In the third quarter, house prices were down 0.4% from the prior quarter but increased 1.2% from the previous year.
Nationwide's Chief Economist Robert Gardner said housing market activity remained subdued in recent months due to the uncertain economic conditions. The conflict in the Middle East exerts upward pressure on energy prices, fanning inflation concerns, he noted.
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