4th Aug 2026 06:53
(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open higher on Tuesday as investors monitored developments in US-Iran diplomacy and digested strong earnings from HSBC.
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open 35.0 points higher, 0.3%, at 10,892.70 on Tuesday. The index of London large-caps closed 0.1% lower at 10,857.70 on Monday.
US President Donald Trump said negotiations with Iran were continuing despite Tehran's denials, warning the Islamic Republic it faced a "last chance before decapitation".
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said he had agreed to continue pursuing talks at the request of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar and other regional partners.
"This is a last chance for them to sign a good document," Trump said. "I want to give them every last chance before decapitation."
He said discussions were focused on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, which could happen "literally by tomorrow", and on Iran’s denuclearisation, a process he said could "take a little while".
Iran, meanwhile, denied it was negotiating directly with Washington. Foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said Tehran’s discussions were instead with Oman to secure passage through the strategically important Strait of Hormuz.
Brent oil was trading at USD85.09 a barrel early Tuesday, higher than USD83.92 late Monday.
Sterling was quoted at USD1.3423 early Tuesday, slightly lower than USD1.3425 at the London equities close on Monday. Against the euro, sterling fell to EUR1.1664 from EUR1.1669 a day prior.
The euro traded at USD1.1508 early Tuesday, higher than USD1.1505 late Monday. Against the yen, the dollar was quoted at JPY157.64, lower versus JPY156.78 after Japan and the US on Monday confirmed they had jointly intervened in currency markets last week to halt the yen’s slide after it hit a fresh 40-year low.
In corporate news, HSBC reported a strong first half, with pretax profit rising 23% to USD19.52 billion in the six months ended June 30 from USD15.81 billion a year earlier.
Diluted and basic earnings per share climbed 31% to USD0.85 from USD0.65. The Asia-focused lender maintained its interim dividend at USD0.10 per share and announced plans for a share buyback of up to USD1 billion, which it expects to complete before reporting third-quarter results.
Net interest income increased 8.4% to USD18.23 billion from USD16.82 billion, while net fee income rose 9.5% to USD7.28 billion from USD6.64 billion.
In the US on Monday, Wall Street ended higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 1.3%, the S&P 500 up 1.5% and the Nasdaq Composite up 2.2%.
In Asia on Tuesday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo was down 0.3%. In China, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.5%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong fell 0.9%.
The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney was up 1.3%, after data showed Australian household spending continued to increase in June.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the monthly household spending indicator rose 0.8% on a seasonally adjusted basis in June, following 1.3% growth in May. Compared with a year earlier, household spending increased 6.0%, accelerating from 5.5% in May.
Gold was quoted at USD4,061.97 an ounce early Tuesday, higher than USD4,036.96 on Monday.
In Tuesday’s corporate calendar, a busy day of earnings includes half-year results from BP, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners and Fresnillo, among others.
In the economic calendar on Tuesday, UK Worldpanel data are due. In the US, trade balance, job openings and labour turnover survey [Jolts] data, and factory orders are scheduled for release.
By Eva Castanedo, Alliance News senior economics reporter
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