FTSE 100 Falls to 3-Month Low
2026-03-23 17:23
By
Agna Gabriel
1 min. read
The FTSE 100 edged down 0.2% to 9894 on Monday, its lowest level since late December, but recovered significantly from earlier losses of more than 1.5% as hopes of a Middle East de-escalation briefly improved sentiment.
Brent crude dropped over 9% after President Donald Trump announced a pause on strikes against Iranian energy infrastructure following what he described as productive talks, though oil later trimmed losses after Iranian media denied any contact with Washington.
Defence and energy stocks weighed on the index, with BAE Systems down more than 4% and BP and Shell falling 4.3% and 2%.
Other heavyweights including AstraZeneca, Unilever and BAT also declined around 1%.
In contrast, banks rebounded strongly, with HSBC, Lloyds, Barclays and NatWest rising between 1.8% and 3.3%, while Rio Tinto gained over 2%.