(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Milano, 31 mar - Shares in London closed higher amid hopes that the conflict in the Middle East might end soon.

The Wall Street Journal reported that US president DonaldTrump was willing to call a stop to the war even if the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint for global oil trade, remained largely shut. In other comments also suggesting hostilities might be nearing an end, Trump said on his Truth Social platform that Iran had been 'essentially decimated".

But signals elsewhere remained mixed. Trump made threats against Iranian energy infrastructure while overnight a Kuwaiti oil tanker anchored off Dubai was hit by a drone.

Markets also reacted to data showing that UK real gross domestic product (GDP) is estimated to have increased by an 0.1% in the fourth quarter of 2025, following growth of 0.1% in the previous quarter, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The data was unrevised from previous estimates.

Also on the data front, UK house prices rose 0.9% in March from February, when they rose 0.3%, and increased an annual 2.2%, accelerating from the 1.0% growth seen the earlier month, according to data released by building society Natiowide.

Among individual stocks, Unilever dropped 7.18% at 4,203.27 pence after the Anglo-Dutch consumer conglomerate said that it had agreed to merge part of its Unilever Foods unit with US foods, ingredients and flavor company McCormick.

The London FTSE 100 closed up 0.48% at 10,176.45 points.

(RADIOCOR) 31-03-26 18:14:36 (0682) 5 NNNN