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FTSE 100 Live: Stocks slump as JD Sports drags on blue chips; oil jumps again

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Welcome back to Morning Wire's FTSE 100 live blog

Welcome back to the Morning Wire liveblog.

The FTSE 100 has slipped to a week low on Thursday, as JD Sports dragged on the index after warning on profit.

The blue-chip index fell to 10,693 around midday, marking a 0.46 per cent drop on Wednesday’s close and a 0.7 per cent fall in the week so far. This comes after the so-called ‘King of Trainers’ said a drop-off in US sales is set to weigh on its profit.

JD Sports fell by nearly 15 per cent to 79p. The next biggest fallers were Investec , Legal & General and Antofagasta.

Oil prices surged to a three-week high, jump more than two per cent to pass $94 per barrel. Overnight, President Trump said he would initiate the “most crushing economic operation ever taken against any country” on Iran.

In a lengthy post on Truth Social, Trump made his latest threat as he claimed Tehran “failed to take” a deal, resulting in what he called “economic warfare and isolation on an unprecedented scale”. 

“These maniacs are on the ropes,” Trump said as he described his economic measures as “historic” and having the ability to “cripple them”. 

He warned that any country providing “any type of lifeline” to Tehran would face “tremendous economic consequences”. The UAE has already announced a suspension of financial and economic transactions with Iran after accusing Tehran of launching ballistic missiles at its territory.

The 60-day ceasefire between the two US and Iran came to an end on Monday. Tehran branded a future agreement as not dead but in a “coma”.

Figures from the International Energy Agency this week showed crude inventories increased by 4.4m barrels last week, but distillate stocks declined by 1.5m barrels to their lowest level in more than a month.

We’ll be bringing you the latest market updates and analysis.

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