The FTSE 100 (^FTSE) and European stocks saw mixed moves on Tuesday morning, ahead of a deadline set by president Donald Trump for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
In a expletive-laden social media post on Sunday, Trump threatened to destroy Iran’s power plants and bridges on Tuesday. He then set a deadline of 8pm ET on Tuesday in separate post.
Oil prices surged as Trump’s deadline loomed, with Brent crude futures (BZ=F) jumping 1.4% to $111.25 a barrel at the time of writing. West Texas Intermediate (CL=F) futures soared 2.4% to $115.14 per barrel.
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Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said that “in the immediate term investors are facing a binary event – ceasefire or further escalation of the conflict”.
“As such, guidance continues in the form of often unconfirmed third party reports detailing progress (or the lack of it) in negotiations,” he said. “Of little doubt is that the US president’s latest deadline to Iran expires this evening where, in the absence of any agreement from his foes, he has threatened to destroy Iran’s power plants and bridges, causing irreversible damage to the country’s energy infrastructure.”
Here’s how markets are faring on Tuesday:
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London’s benchmark index (^FTSE) fell 0.2% in early trading
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Germany’s DAX (^GDAXI) hovered at the flatline and the CAC (^FCHI) in Paris climbed 0.5%
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The pan-European STOXX 600 (^STOXX) was little changed
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In the US, contracts on the S&P 500 (ES=F) and tech-exposed Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) declined roughly 0.4% and 0.5%, respectively. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM=F) slipped 0.2%
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The pound edged 0.1% against the US dollar (GBPUSD=X) to $1.3242
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