29th Jul 2026 06:52
(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open slightly lower on Wednesday, while oil prices moved higher as hostilities in the Middle East resumed.
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open 10.4 points lower, 0.1%, at 10,860.62 on Wednesday. The index of London large-caps closed up 89.27 points, 0.8%, at 10,871.02 on Tuesday.
US and Saudi warplanes carried out strikes on Tuesday against Iran-backed militants in Iraq who launched more than two dozen drone attacks in recent days, the US military said.
The strikes targeted "Iran-aligned terrorists that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps directed to attack US forces and Saudi energy infrastructure," US Central Command said in a statement.
It further warned that "the IRGC and its terrorist proxies must cease these attacks to avoid further US military response."
Jordan's army on Wednesday said it intercepted and downed five Iranian missiles, as the fighting between Tehran and Washington resumed following the brief pause.
"Air defences this morning dealt with five missiles coming from Iran targeting the kingdom's territory," the spokesman of the Jordanian army said in a statement, adding that the missiles were "intercepted and downed".
A barrel of Brent rose to USD87.11 early Wednesday, from USD84.87 at the time of the London equities close on Tuesday. Gold declined slightly to USD4,030.65 an ounce from USD4,035.95.
Sterling fetched USD1.3298, easing from USD1.3306. Against the euro, it faded to EUR1.1662 from EUR1.1674. The single currency was steady at USD1.1398 from USD1.1397. Against the yen, the buck fell to JPY163.44 from JPY163.68.
The yield on the 10-year US Treasury widened to 4.61% from 4.59%. The 30-year yield stretched to 5.10% from 5.09%.
The Federal Reserve announces its latest interest rate decision at 1900 BST, and though a hold is largely expected, there is some conviction that it may hike sooner or later, SPI Asset Management analyst Stephen Innes commented.
"For most of the modern central-banking era, the Federal Reserve has preferred to remove the surprise before delivering the decision. Officials spoke, markets adjusted and the announcement arrived only after investors had been guided toward the intended destination. The Fed did not merely set policy. It managed the path by which the market discovered it. That convention is now being tested. The target range remains 3.50%–3.75%, and all 104 economists in the latest Reuters survey expect the Federal Open Market Committee to leave rates unchanged. Yet money markets still assign roughly a 32% probability to a July increase and price around 42 basis points of tightening by year-end," Innes said.
"That is an extraordinary gap between the economist consensus and the market price."
Wednesday is the eve of the next Bank of England decision, meanwhile. The BoE is expected to hold.
Wednesday's economic calendar has UK mortgage approvals at 0930.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 was down 1.7% on Wednesday. In China, the Shanghai Composite was up 0.8%, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong shot up 1.3%. Sydney's S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.0%.
Lender Standard Chartered shot up 5.8% in Hong Kong. It hailed a "record first half performance", announced a USD1.0 billion buyback and lifted guidance.
It now expects operating income growth year-on-year for 2026 around the middle of its 5% to 7% range at constant currency and excluding "material notable items". It previously expected growth towards the lower end of the range.
First half pretax profit rose 9.1% to USD4.78 billion from USD4.38 billion, with operating income climbing 6.4% to USD11.60 billion from USD10.91 billion.
In the second quarter alone, pretax profit rose 2.4% to USD2.33 billion from USD2.28 billion and operating income was 3.2% higher at USD5.70 billion from USD5.53 billion.
Pretax profit beat consensus of USD2.07 billion and operating income topped a USD5.55 billion forecast.
"We delivered a record first-half performance in 2026, with double-digit growth in Wealth Solutions and Global Banking. Our performance demonstrates the strength of our differentiated international network and the disciplined execution of our strategy. Clients continue to turn to us to facilitate trade, investment and wealth flows across the world's most dynamic markets. We delivered a 17% increase in our earnings per share, and our upgraded income guidance and new share buyback of USD1.0 billion reflect our confidence in the business," Chief Executive Bill Winters said.
Wednesday's UK corporate calendar has half-year results from consumer goods firm Reckitt Benckiser and engineer Weir Group.
By Eric Cunha, Alliance News news editor
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