U.K. shares retreated on Monday, with energy stocks pacing declines after a deal to freeze oil output by OPEC and non-OPEC producers fell apart amid a spike in tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
That said, stocks recouped some early losses as oil prices recovered from the day's lows after falling as much as 7 percent in early Asian deals.
The benchmark FTSE 100 was down 18 points or 0.29 percent at 6,325 in midday trading after hitting as low as 6,262 earlier in the day.
Energy giants BP and Royal Dutch Shell fell around 1.5 percent each.
Shares of HSBC Holdings lost 1 percent. The Sunday Times reported that CEO Stuart Gulliver is preparing to step down in two years.
Chipmaker ARM Holdings dropped over 2 percent after the Nikkei business daily reported that Apple will continue its reduced production of iPhones in the quarter ending June in light of sluggish sales.
AstraZeneca traded little changed on the buzz it is mulling a takeover bid for San Francisco-based drug maker Medivation Inc.
Mining stocks such as Anglo American and BHP Billiton traded marginally lower as London copper prices extended losses from the previous session. Rival Rio Tinto was up nearly 1 percent.
EasyJet rallied 2.5 percent and International Consolidated Airlines Group climbed 1.7 percent on optimism that falling oil prices will push jet fuel prices lower.
Consumer goods giant Reckitt Benckiser Group gained 1 percent after reporting slightly better-than-expected quarterly sales growth and affirming its 2016 targets.
Energy Assets Group soared 39 percent after US-based infrastructure investment firm Alinda Capital Partners agreed to buy the Scottish utility metering specialist at a 40 percent premium to its closing price on Friday.
In economic news, U.K. Chancellor George Osborne said if people vote to leave the European Union, it would leave the nation "permanently poorer". The loss to the economy from the exit would be equivalent to GBP 4,300 a year for each household by 2030, Osborne wrote in a column published in The Times.
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Market Analysis
May 22, 2026 14:46 ET Minutes of the latest Fed policy session was the highlight of the week along with survey data on the U.S. housing market. In Europe, survey data signaled the trends in the euro area private sector. Further, consumer price inflation data from the U.K. was in focus. In Asia, various economic indicators from China drew attention to the health of the economy.