FTSE 100 Live: Stocks inch up; Gas prices surge after drone attacks

Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog.

The FTSE 100 closed up 0.5 per cent yesterday, settling at 10,317.69p led by a three per cent jump in Endeavour Mining.

It came as global markets were brought some reprieve from declining oil prices.

The price of Brent crude, the international benchmark for oil prices, spiked as trading opened for the new week, rising 1.8 per cent to $104.98 per barrel. But gains were later given up falling to just north of the $100 mark.

“It’s been a better start to the week for global markets despite continued uncertainty around the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and discussions to secure passage for global shipping through the Strait of Hormuz,” said AJ Bell head of financial analysis Danni Hewson.

Markets are also gearing up for a whole host of central bank meetings, where investors are settling an elevated interest rate path.

Professor Jonathan Haskel, who is also a member of City AM’s Shadow Monetary Policy Committee, told BBC Radio 4’s ‘Today’ programme he believes a rates cut is “completely off the table”.

Haskel said that geopolitical volatility is likely to sway committee members to wait for more data before any future rate cuts: “Those people saying the economy is weak will say this will weaken the economy further and therefore we should have a cut.”

We’ll be bringing you the latest from markets and more.

Here’s a few of our top headlines from yesterday:

• Close Brothers shares sink as infamous short-seller warns of motor finance ‘wipeout’
• Bank of England: We can’t eliminate bias in AI
• Tyson v Bruno: How UK’s first pay-per-view fight shaped next 30 years
• Brewdog US bars snapped up by beer firm’s UK buyer
• Brits fleeing Dubai could trigger ‘surprise’ UK tax bills
• Sheffield Wednesday: Football regulator already in talks over new club owners