FTSE 100 climbs on lower oil and AI IPO buzz

London’s FTSE 100 edged up about 0.3% as Brent crude fell roughly 1% to $93.90 after Israel halted strikes on Lebanon, easing concerns about the Iran‑Israel conflict. The oil dip lifted miner and consumer‑cyclical stocks, while defensive sectors such as healthcare and utilities lagged. The market rally was also driven by renewed enthusiasm for artificial‑intelligence companies after Anthropic filed confidentially for a U.S. IPO that could value the firm near $1 trillion, joining recent filings by SpaceX and expectations around OpenAI. Rightmove topped the FTSE 100 gainers, boosted by hopes for a UK housing recovery, with Kingfisher and Marks & Spencer also posting strong gains. Across the Atlantic, U.S. indices hit record highs on AI‑fuelled tech strength, highlighted by Nvidia’s post‑earnings surge and Alphabet’s plan to raise up to $80 billion for AI infrastructure. Meanwhile, the pound firmed against the dollar and euro, and Eurostat data showed euro‑zone inflation accelerating to 3.2% YoY in May, putting pressure on the European Central Bank to consider a rate hike at its June meeting.