FTSE 100 Live: Stocks jittery after Trump’s latest TACO; Oil price slips
Welcome back to the City AM liveblog.
Markets are in recovery mode after a dramatic intervention from President Donald Trump slapped a delay on his bombastic ultimatum.
Trump issued a 48-hour ultimatum to the Iranian regime on Saturday night, where he called for the full re-opening of the Strait of Hormuz.
The strait is a vital shipping pathway, which sees around a fifth of the world’s oil supply flowing through, has remained closed since conflict broke out but in the last few days select allies of Tehran have been allowed to pass through.
The President wrote on Truth Social that the US would “hit and obliterate” Iranian power plants if the strait was not fully reopened by 23:44 GMT on Monday.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards responded to Trump’s ultimatum stating the Strait would “be completely closed and will not be opened until our destroyed power plants are rebuilt” should Trump strike.
But in a post on Monday, Trump said “productive” talks had led to a delay.
Markets bounced into the green as analysts sounded the ‘TACO’ siren – a term coined by investors as ‘Trump Always Chickens Out’ in his ‘art of the deal’ style negotiations. The price of oil also tipped under the $100 mark after starting the day at $112.
Sir Keir Starmer is set to chair an emergency meeting today with Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey on the economic fallout of the war in Iran.
The Prime Minister has said the meeting will examine “every lever” at the government’s disposal for how to respond.
We’ll be bringing you the latest analysis and updates.
Here’s a few of our top headlines from the weekend:
- Iceland boss calls for profit cap on energy firms as prices surge
- Sunak urges rethink on taxing jobs as AI begins to reshape hiring
- Clubs like Chelsea won’t be able to hide from regulator scrutiny
- The UK is being “dragged into” Iran war says Badenoch
- Fortress prepares to offload Majestic Wine
- Hargreaves Lansdown services resume after technical glitch
- Starmer to convene emergency meeting over Iran war price shock