- FTSE 100 down 23 at 10,484
- Nasdaq leads Wall Street higher
- BT inks $4bn Verizon JV
- Brent rises 0.8% to $73.19
5.30pm: Gold, silver losses weigh
Pressure on gold and silver companies saw the FTSE 100 finish the day lower, down 23 points at 10,484 points.
“It’s another mixed day for the FTSE thanks to the mining sector. Gold and silver keep on weakening, casting a long shadow over Endeavour Mining and Fresnillo, and leaving the index without the momentum to push on towards 11,000,” IG chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp said.
“It hasn’t been a very exciting start to the week on the continent either, with the equity rally looking distinctly tired and unable to muster up much enthusiasm even as the US and Iran look to resume talks.”
2.56pm: Wall Street powers open
The FTSE 100 puttered along at around parity as Wall Street made a strong early bolt out of the gates. The Nasdaq led the field with a 1.4% gain, while the S&P was up 1% and the Dow added 0.7%.
The stabilisation of hostilities in the Strait of Hormuz appears to have settled sentiment, although Brent nudged higher, reflecting some residual nervousness.
1.55pm: And the new Chancellor?
Ed Miliband has emerged as the runaway favourite to become the next UK Chancellor, according to the prediction market Polymarket.
Traders on the platform put the former Labour leader's chances of taking the Treasury at 65%, far ahead of any rival.
The energy secretary's odds have firmed by 20 percentage points in recent trading, leaving the rest of the field trailing.
Health secretary Wes Streeting sits a distant second at 10%, with his odds easing as Miliband's have strengthened.
Justice secretary Shabana Mahmood follows at 9%, while Pat McFadden and Yvette Cooper are level on 7%.
The contract, which has seen more than $431,000 of trading volume, resolves on whoever is officially appointed chancellor by the end of 2026.
Crucially, the market only counts a new appointment, meaning a reappointment of the incumbent, Rachel Reeves, would not trigger a payout.
12:20: Wall Street headed for a bright start
London's FTSE 100 was down 25 points on Monday, treading cautiously ahead of Wall Street's open as investors weighed fresh signs of de-escalation in the Middle East.
The move followed reports that Washington and Tehran had agreed to halt the tit-for-tat attacks that broke out over the weekend, allowing peace talks to continue.
US stock futures pointed higher, with Nasdaq 100 futures up 1.2% and S&P 500 futures adding 0.8%, after sharp losses for both indices last week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, less exposed to technology names, was set to rise around 0.4%.
Markets had entered the holiday-shortened week on edge after the US launched strikes on Iranian military targets, escalating tensions in the region and reviving concerns over global energy supplies.
Oil prices rose early on but pared their gains as investors weighed the risk of further disruption to crude supplies.
Brent crude was up 0.6% at $73 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate traded just below $70.
The flare-up added to the pressure on markets already rattled by last week's sell-off in technology shares, which saw Nvidia and Alphabet both slide more than 8%.
In Asia, South Korean stocks staged a recovery, with the Kospi closing down just 0.2% after dropping as much as 3.4%.
The rebound came as Samsung Electronics (KRX:005930) and SK Hynix pledged heavy investment during a government briefing underlining the country's commitment to AI.
The week's highlight will be Thursday's US June jobs report, brought forward from Friday because of the Fourth of July holiday.
10.30am: Dull, dull, dull
Blue-chip stocks remained moribund after a mixed start to the week in Asia. Skirmishes between Iran and the US over the weekend prompted a small spike in Brent, which rose 0.8% to $73.19. That said, the price remains around pre-conflict levels, easing the pain (one hopes) for drivers at the pump.
US equity futures pointed higher, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 both up around 0.6%, while European futures suggested a modestly positive open
8.15am: Slow start in London
As expected, the FTSE 100 made a slow start to proceedings, falling 13 points to 10,495.42. The day's big news came from BT Group, which inked a $4 billion joint venture deal with Verizon, which will see the pair pool their international assets.
It is expected to serve more than 3,000 customers across more than 180 countries, generating roughly $4 billion in combined annual revenue.
Both parents will hold equal voting rights, with Verizon agreeing to pay BT a $625 million equalisation payment.
The venture is being pitched as a platform built for a cloud-first world, with the two sides emphasising secure and resilient connectivity designed to meet customers' data, operational and regulatory requirements.
It will be incorporated in Jersey but headquartered and tax resident in the United Kingdom.
Asia makes unsettled start to the week
London's FTSE 100 is predicted to open 12 points higher on Monday, shrugging off a mixed session across Asian markets.
Selling of artificial intelligence-related shares pulled benchmarks in Japan and South Korea lower, though gains elsewhere offset some of those losses.
Tokyo's Nikkei 225 shed 1%, having fallen 4% on Friday, with SoftBank Group, the investment holding company that backs OpenAI, sinking almost 6%.
South Korea's Kospi dropped 2%, as Samsung Electronics (KRX:005930) lost 6% and memory chipmaker SK Hynix fell almost 5%.
US futures advanced and oil prices gained, though they remained close to the levels seen before the Iran war began in late February.
Tensions between Washington and Tehran escalated over the weekend, with Iran launching fresh drone and missile attacks on Bahrain and Kuwait in response to new US airstrikes.
