London's FTSE 100 index edged up seven points to 10,789 on July 28, 2026, as robust quarterly sales from Unilever offset sharp declines in Barclays shares and ongoing geopolitical volatility.
Lower oil prices initially supported European equities after a pause in US-Iran military strikes, but gains were limited by a broad sell-off in international technology stocks.
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Barclays Results Disappoint
Barclays reported a 16% increase in second-quarter group income to £8.3 billion and a 31% rise in pre-tax profit to £3.3 billion, alongside an additional £1 billion share buyback.
However, its stock fell 4.8% due to higher expected costs in the second half.
"There are also some additional costs (arguably one-off? ) coming through in H2 that may not be in estimates," said Jonathan Pierce, analyst at Jefferies.
The banking sector faced broader pressure, with Lion Finance, NatWest, and Lloyds seeing share price drops between 1.3% and 2.5%.
Energy heavyweights Shell and BP also fell by 1.1% and 0.8% as Brent crude dipped below $88 per barrel.
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Unilever Leads Gains
Unilever jumped 5.5% after reporting a 5.8% increase in underlying second-quarter sales, outperforming market expectations of 4.14%.
The company upgraded its full-year sales growth outlook to between 4% and 6%.
"The best volume quarter at Unilever in over a decade," said Fernando Fernandez, Chief Executive Officer at Unilever.
In regulatory news, telecom watchdog Ofcom provisionally blocked a proposed discount scheme by BT-owned Openreach, citing concerns that the monthly price reductions could harm competition from smaller broadband providers.
"Openreach must be able to compete, but they cannot use their significant market power to drive other networks out of the market," said Natalie Black, Ofcom representative.
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Ofcom's public consultation on the proposal will close on August 27, 2026, with a final decision expected by the end of September.
