(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Milano, 10 apr - Shares in London closed flat as investors eye developments in the Ukraine conflict and in the Middle East ahead of Iran peace talks this weekend.

With the Strait of Hormuz still closed to tanker traffic, concern over the staying power of a two-week ceasefire deal hammered out earlier this week between Washington and Tehran is keeping traders on edge.

In recent comments, US president Donald Trump said Iran was doing 'a very poor job' in keeping oil flowing through Hormuz and warned Tehran against the idea of imposing tolls on ships using the waterway.

But oil prices came off earlier gains to trade lower after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had agreed to talks with Lebanon 'as soon as possible.' Attention now turns to weekend talks between the US and Israel to see if the ceasefire agreement can be firmed up.

Progress in talks between Ukraine and Russia also helped sentiment with the two sides agreeing to a 32-hour ceasefire ahead of the Orthodox Easter.

Among individual stocks, ConvaTec rose 4.46% at 234.00 pence after the company yesterday laid out plans to speed up growth.

The London FTSE 100 closed down 0.02% at 10,600.53 points.

(RADIOCOR) 10-04-26 18:20:44 (0533) 5 NNNN