FTSE 100 Live: Stocks to jump; oil rises as US says ‘no talks’ with Iran
Welcome back to the Morning Wire FTSE 100 liveblog.
The UK’s blue-chip index is set to jump on Friday morning, according to futures from investment platform IG.
Oil prices reared back up on Thursday night, reversing days of losses earlier in the week. The price of Brent crude – the international benchmark for oil – jumped about 1.5 per cent to reach $90 again.
Investors reacted to conflicting signals over whether oil supplies are set to improve. Iran’s military said it had reached a revenue-sharing agreement with Oman over the vital trade route, but Tehran insisted that the deal will not enforce the immediate reopening of the strait.
Confusion over Middle Eastern negotiations persisted later on Thursday night after it emerged that Qatar’s prime minister had visited Tehran to discuss a deal over the Strait of Hormuz. But the White House insisted that no negotiations are taking place between the US and Iran.
“No negotiations are happening right now and this will continue until the president feels that maybe they come to the table in a meaningful way. We have not seen that yet,” President Donald Trump’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said.
Tech stocks soared in the US on Thursday after Nvidia more-than-doubled its sales. Dan Coatsworth, AJ Bell’s head of markets, said: “Whereas tech stocks were electric, other parts of the market suffered outages. The FTSE 100 was grumpy, with HSBC, Shell, AstraZeneca and British American Tobacco among the names weighing the market down.
“That suggests a market rotation away from stodgy all-weather businesses and oil price hike beneficiaries towards tech names like Computacenter and Sage. Tech stocks have much less influence on the UK market versus the way they dominate the US, hence why the sell-off in banks, oil producers and tobacco companies mattered more.”
We’ll be bringing you the latest market updates and analysis.
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