Oil prices leaped, and stocks slumped on worries that escalating violence following Israel’s attack on Iranian nuclear and military targets could damage the flow of crude around the world, along with the global economy.

IG Index futures point to the FTSE 100 falling 0.5% or 48 points, unwinding the top flight benchmark’s increase of 24.59 points yesterday. Brent Crude is at $73.61 a barrel, an increase of 0.5% after falling to $70 at one point yesterday amid reports Iran is willing to resume nuclear talks with the US.

Global oil investments are expected to drop 6% in 2025, in the first such decline in a decade excluding the year of the Covid slump, according to the International Energy Agency.