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June 3 (Reuters) - UK shares declined on Wednesday, as

risk sentiment took a hit after hostilities in the Middle East

picked up again and sent crude oil prices higher, with little

sign of progress on a peace deal keeping investors on edge.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 index fell 0.2% to 10,350.5

points by 1013 GMT, while the midcap FTSE 250 slipped

0.1%.

* Gulf hostilities flared again, with an Iranian missile

attack damaging Kuwait's airport and the U.S. military carrying

out strikes near the Strait of Hormuz.

* Oil prices jumped around 3% as the Middle East situation

escalated, sending shares of UK energy firms 1.3%

higher.

* Healthcare was among the top drags with

drugmaker AstraZeneca ( AZN ) down 2.2%.

* Precious metal miners and industrial metal

miners fell over 1% each as metal prices pulled

back.

* Investment manager Ninety One fell 6.4% as

analysts noted smaller-than-expected net inflows during the

second half of 2026.

* British private equity firm Bridgepoint Group

fell 3.4% after Switzerland's Partners Group said it is capping

withdrawals from an $8.6 billion private equity fund.

* Shares of B&M added 16.1% after the British

discount retailer reported a smaller-than-expected drop in

annual pretax profit.

* Debenhams Group jumped 22.3% after the online

fashion retailer returned to growth with a 0.5% rise in

first-quarter gross merchandise value along with a "substantial"

increase in core profit.

* On the data front, British services firms buckled in May

as the strains of the Iran war pushed up their costs and hit

optimism.

* The OECD scaled back an earlier assessment of the

immediate impact of the Iran war on British growth and inflation

this year, but sees less recovery in 2027 than it did in its

last set of forecasts in late March.