(Alliance News) - Stocks in Europe moved higher on Tuesday, with Middle East peace hope lifting the mood, though peers in New York are set to open lower.

The pound was resilient, overcoming a morning decline to move higher by the early afternoon, despite tepid UK jobs data.

The FTSE 100 index traded up 74.48 points, 0.7%, at 10,398.23. The FTSE 250 was up 201.61 points, 0.9%, at 22,813.31, and the AIM all-share was up 1.81 points, 0.2%, at 801.98.

The Cboe UK 100 was up 1.0% at 1,034.17, the Cboe UK 250 added 1.3% at 19,793.96, and the Cboe small companies was up 0.7% at 18,598.94.

In Paris, the CAC 40 shot up 0.9%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt surged 1.4%.

The pound edged up to USD1.3407 on Tuesday afternoon, from USD1.3397 late Monday afternoon. Against the euro, it climbed to EUR1.1530 from EUR1.1506. The euro eased to USD1.1623 from USD1.1643. Against the yen, the buck rose to JPY159.09 from JPY158.84.

The Office for National Statistics said the unemployment rate rose back to 5.0% in the three months to March, from 4.9% in the period to February. According to consensus cited by FXStreet, it had been expected to stay at 4.9%.

Average earnings, including bonuses, rose 4.1% on-year in the three months to March, picking up speed from 3.9% in February and topping consensus of a slowdown to 3.8%.

For regular earnings, pay growth cooled to 3.4% in the three months to March, from 3.6% in the three-month stretch to February. That figure was in line with consensus.

For the private sector alone, total pay growth picked up to 3.9% in three months to March from 3.6% in the period to February. For regular pay in the private sector, it cooled to 3.0% from 3.2%.

The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was steady at 4.61% early Tuesday, where it stood at the time of the London equities close on Monday. The 30-year was at 5.15%, widening from 5.14%.

A barrel of Brent fell to USD110.48 early Tuesday afternoon, from USD110.80 at the time of the London equities on Monday. Gold rose to USD4,541.99 an ounce from USD4,541.71.

"Trump's hot/cold demeanour around the Iran war continues to cause volatility on the markets," AJ Bell analyst Russ Mould commented.

"With the US president having yesterday called off a new military attack on Iran, investors are showing relief that tensions haven't escalated. That's helped oil prices to ease back slightly and equity markets to move higher in Europe and Asia. However, futures prices imply a cautious session for Wall Street when it opens for trading later today, and oil prices remain at high enough levels to weigh on the global economy."

In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is called down 0.2%, the S&P 500 down 0.4% and the Nasdaq Composite 0.7% lower.

In London, mining stocks weakened as metal prices declined. Rio Tinto fell 2.2%, Antofagasta shed 1.5% and Anglo American gave back 1.1%.

IG Group led the way on the large cap index, adding 9.6% after raising guidance. It now sees 2026 organic revenue growth between 10% and 15%, upping its view from "prior guidance of high single-digits".

Also on the up after a guidance upgrade, Currys topped the FTSE 250 with a 14% surge. It now expects adjusted pretax profit growth of 18% to GBP191 million for the financial year ended May 2, ahead of a prior guidance range of GBP180 million to GBP190 million. In the financial year to May 3, 2025, Currys posted adjusted pretax profit of GBP162 million.

Standard Chartered fell 0.7%. It said it will cut more than 15% of corporate functions roles by 2030, as the lender set out new medium term financial targets after achieving its previous aim a year earlier than planned.

At an investor event in Hong Kong, the London-based lender focused on Asia said it expects to achieve a more than 15% return on tangible equity in 2028, building to around 18% in 2030. It had achieved a statutory RoTE of 11.9% in 2025.

"We achieved our 2026 medium-term financial targets a year earlier than planned. We now have a more focused, streamlined and efficient organisation, positioning us strongly for the next stage of growth and to deliver our strategy at greater scale and pace," StanChart said.

According to its 2025 annual report the bank had 52,271 of employees in back-office operations at the end of last year, suggesting job cuts of roughly 7,800.

XTB analyst Kathleen Brooks commented: "After a spate of tech sector layoffs linked to AI, the financial sector could be next in line. Standard Chartered, the UK based bank, said that it would cut 15% of its back-office roles by 2030 due to the adoption of AI. While most job losses are expected to come from India, China and Poland, the risk is that other companies follow suit. As agentic AI gets more advanced, roles that are closer to the front office could also be at risk in the banking sector, although we do not expect that to happen in the near to medium term.

"Interestingly, tech firms that have already announced AI-related layoffs have not seen share price gains. Snap's share price is lower by 30% YTD, and Salesforce's share price is down 32%."

Elsewhere in London, Forterra lost 6.0%. The maker of clay and concrete building products has been hurt by "challenging" market conditions. Revenue in the four months to April 30 fell 11% on-year like-for-like.

Forterra said: "The ongoing crisis in the Middle East has created further challenges for our business, with additional cost inflation driven by significant increases in the cost of diesel, transport services and natural gas. The impact of the increased cost of gas is however mitigated by our forward purchasing strategy, with around 80% of our requirements for the remainder of the year secured at pre-crisis pricing.

"Whilst our forward purchasing of gas insulated us from the higher prices in March, we have rescheduled some production from April until the second half of the year in order to manage our gas cost. Assuming market conditions allow, we plan to recover this production in the second half of the year, which will increase the second half weighting of our full-year result."

The conflict has not affected demand for its offering, though Forterra is mindful of wider consequences, including loftier borrowing costs.

"With the elevated uncertainty we presently face, forecasting how the second half of the year will evolve has become more challenging, leading to a greater range of potential full year outcomes than previously anticipated," it added.

By Eric Cunha, Alliance News news editor

Comments and questions to newsroom@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2026 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.