M&S in fashion as stocks climb amid fresh hopes of US-Iran peace deal

Marks & Spencer helped lift the FTSE 100 into the close on Wednesday after the retailer’s annual results beat expectations despite the impact of a major cyberattack, while oil prices fell on renewed hopes for progress in US-Iran peace talks.

The British department store led the FTSE 100 risers, climbing 6.6%, after annual results showed the impact of the 2025 cyberattack which forced the retailer to suspend all online sales for about six weeks.

It said pre-tax profit dropped 29% to £364.6 million in the 52 weeks to 28 March from £511.8 million the year prior.

Adjusted pre-tax profit fell 24% to £671.4 million from £881.1 million, but beat Visible Alpha consensus of £640.3 million.

JPMorgan analyst Georgina Johanan said it was a “better than feared” update.

M&S Chief Executive Stuart Machin said it was an “extraordinary year”.

“A resilient balance sheet supported by the hard work done on our cash position in recent years allowed us to absorb the cost of disruption without compromising our financial health,” he added.

AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould said the cyberattack crisis now looks more like a “blip” in a story of continuing recovery at the retailer.

It came as the FTSE 100 closed up 101.79 points, 1.0%, at 10,432.34. It had earlier traded as low as 10,279.07.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were: Marks & Spencer, up 21.7p at 348.5p; Babcock International, up 52.3p at 1,039.5p; Rolls Royce, up 60.0p at 1,224.6p; Antofagasta, up 173.0p at 3,822.0p; and International Consolidated Airlines, up 17.6p at 397.8p.

The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were: Experian, down 80.0p at 2,630.0p; Centrica, down 3.75p at 194.75p; Relx, down 45.0p at 2,482.0p: Games Workshop, down 280.0p at 18,850.0p; and Autotrader, down 6.9p at 496.3p.

Meanwhile, the FTSE 250 ended up 270.41 points, 1.2%, at 22,838.38, but the AIM All-Share fell 0.81 of a point, 0.1%, at 792.81.

The late stock gains came as US President Donald Trump said the US is in “final stages” of talks with Iran.

Trump said American negotiators were close to a potential peace accord with Iran, news agency AFP reported.

“We’re in the final stages of Iran, we’ll see what happens,” Trump told reporters on Wednesday.

“We’ll either have a deal or we’re going to do some things that are a little bit nasty. But hopefully that won’t happen.”

The comments saw Brent crude for July delivery trade lower at 105.26 US dollars a barrel on Wednesday, down from 110.72 dollars at the time of the equities close in London on Tuesday.

Oil prices had earlier remained inflated as Iran’s chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, claimed the US was seeking to restart the war and hoping the Islamic republic would surrender.

Investors in London were also digesting better-than-forecast UK inflation figures.

The Office for National Statistics said UK consumer prices rose 2.8% in April, cooling from a 3.3% surge in March. A loftier rate of 3% had been expected for April, according to consensus cited by FXStreet.

Excluding food, energy, alcohol and tobacco, the annual core consumer price inflation rate cooled to 2.5% in April from 3.1% in March, below consensus of 2.6%.

But analysts warned the lower CPI figure could be the last for some time.

Kallum Pickering, Chief Economist at Peel Hunt, said the figures ease the pressure on the Bank of England to react to Iran-related energy price rises with a policy tightening.

“With any luck, the positive inflation surprise in the April data will be the first of several over coming months,” he said.