As it happened: FTSE 100 see-saws amid global jitters as market outlook turns ‘risky and dangerous’
Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog.
Markets were not getting too excited at the beginning of this week when Donald Trump said a peace deal with Iran was “very close”.
And last night’s exchange of strikes might explain why. The US has said it completed a series of strikes against Iran in response to its claim that Iran had launched a drone attack on a helicopter resulting in a rescue mission for two members.
The US has framed its strikes as “a proportional response” for the helicopter downing, whilst Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) described the attacks as “vicious”.
Neil Wilson, UK investor strategist at Saxo Markets, said: “Signs of progress on US-Iran talks may have been less impactful than signs of ships navigating the Strait of Hormuz, with US energy secretary Wright saying ship tariff through the passage was increasing ‘very meaningfully’.
“But then we’ve had a downed US helicopter and ‘defensive’ retaliation and it suddenly doesn’t look so great a picture – yet oil prices have barely moved higher.”
Amidst this, markets are fighting wobbles on several fields with another tech sell-off rocking Asia overnight and US markets left closing in the red. Fresh US inflation data on Wednesday also showed a surge in consumer prices to the tune of 4.2 per cent, in another major economic blow. Wilson said the outlook looks “risky and dangerous for equities”.
“Volatility is back – downside moves are going to become more aggressive, forcing equity markets lower but buy-the-dip will continue to exert a powerful check on the downside moves,” he added.
We’ll be bringing you the latest reaction to these moves and more.
Jump straight to…
- 13:30pm: US inflation jumps to highest level in three years
- 10:20am: Market wobbles catch up as FTSE 100 goes into red
- 9:30am: P&O Ferries to be probed over possible audit failings
- 7:15am: Asian markets extend slump after heavy Wall Street tech sell-off