The FTSE 100 shot higher as trading got underway, following the assassination of Hamas’ political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran, which drove up oil prices.

Fears of an all-out conflict in the Middle East increased after Hamas claimed that Israel had killed Ismail Haniyeh, sending Brent crude, the global benchmark, up 1pc to over $80 per barrel.

The FTSE 100 fell 1.1% in London, after the killing which came after an earlier Israeli attack in Lebanon that claimed the life of a senior Hezbollah commander,

Heavyweight oil stocks, such as Shell and BP, were up more than 2 percentage points.

Brent had fallen 4 percentage points in the preceding three days, but has since recovered due to worries that a worsening of the situation might result in more attacks on ships navigating the Red Sea or have an effect on Iranian exports.

“The attack obviously strips away the hopes of ceasefire. Since it happened in Tehran, it’s plausible that it can trigger a wider conflict and we may witness involvement from other countries,” Priyanka Sachdeva, senior market analyst at brokerage Phillip Nova, said, The Telegraph reported.