Despite persistent worries over Middle East tensions and rumours that Hezbollah has rejected a fresh ceasefire deal with Israel, the benchmark index for the UK market, the FTSE 100, saw a slight increase in positive territory on Friday morning. Reports indicate that the Israel Defence Forces have eliminated Hezbollah’s engineering unit commander Abed Harb, thereby escalating tensions.

Meanwhile, investors are anticipating the release of U.S. non-farm payroll data for the month of May, which is expected later in the day. The FTSE 100 experienced an increase of 39.41 points, translating to approximately 0.4%, reaching a level of 10,399.73 shortly before noon. LSEG and Experian both experienced an increase of approximately 3.1%. Sainsbury (J), RightMove, Pearson, Relx, AutoTrader Group, Coca-Cola HBC, Pershing Square Holdings, 3i Group, Smith & Nephew, Bunzl, Tesco and Compass Group experienced increases ranging from 1.5% to 2.6%.

Airtel Africa, St. James’s Place, AstraZeneca, The Sage Group, Games Workshop, Kingfisher, Intercontinental Hotels Group, Howden Joinery, Unilever, British Land, and Informa experienced significant upward movement. Shares of single-board computer maker Raspberry Pi Holdings surged 26% following the company’s announcement that it anticipates full-year earnings to substantially surpass market expectations. Halma experienced a decline of nearly 3%. Scottish Mortgage, Polar Capital Technology Trust, JD Sports Fashion, and Hiscox experienced declines ranging from 1.6% to 2%.

Miners Glencore, Anglo American Plc, Rio Tinto, Antofagasta, Endeavour Mining, and Fresnillo experienced a decline ranging from 1% to 1.6%. In economic news, data indicated that the Halifax House Price Index revealed a 0.1% decline in UK house prices from the previous month in May 2026, consistent with the decrease observed in April. House prices were anticipated to increase by 0.1% in May.