FTSE 100 slips after record run as oil and retail shares drive the mood
If you’ve been watching the UK markets today, the FTSE 100 has taken a noticeable pause after what’s been a historic run. Just days after pushing past the 10,000 mark for the first time ever, the index has slipped back, with losses led by energy stocks and pressure building in parts of the retail sector.
What happened is fairly straightforward. Commodity prices, especially oil, dropped sharply, and that immediately hit some of the FTSE’s biggest heavyweights. Companies like Shell and BP carry a lot of influence in the index, so when oil prices slide, the whole market tends to feel it. Those shares fell by more than three per cent, dragging the FTSE lower and knocking around 70 points off the index in a single session.
Behind that oil move is geopolitics. Fresh comments from US President Donald Trump about Venezuelan oil supplies rattled energy markets, raising questions about global trade flows and relations with China. Even when those headlines don’t translate directly into immediate policy, they still affect investor confidence, especially in sectors tied to global commodities.
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At the same time, attention has shifted to UK retailers, and that’s another reason the FTSE 100 is trending today. Supermarket stocks have come under pressure amid what traders are calling “trolley wars,” as big chains fight aggressively on pricing to win cautious consumers. That kind of competition can boost sales volumes but squeeze profits, and investors are clearly nervous about margins.
Marks & Spencer, however, has moved in the opposite direction. Its shares edged higher as the company continues to recover from a recent cyber attack, with signs that systems are stabilising and trading remains resilient. With updates from Tesco, M&S and Greggs either out or imminent, these stocks are being treated as a real-time test of how confident UK shoppers felt over the crucial festive period.
All of this comes against an important backdrop. The FTSE 100 hitting 10,000 was a symbolic moment, but the index is dominated by multinational firms that earn most of their money overseas. That means global politics, commodity prices and foreign demand often matter more than what’s happening on the UK high street.
The immediate impact is a reminder that markets don’t move in straight lines. Even after a record milestone, sharp daily drops can and do happen. Longer term, investors will be watching whether consumer spending holds up in 2026 and whether geopolitical tensions continue to unsettle energy markets.
For now, the FTSE 100 remains above that psychologically important 10,000 level, but today’s pullback shows how quickly sentiment can shift once big global forces come into play.
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