8th Jun 2026 06:51
(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open lower on Monday, as hopes for a peace deal in the Middle East were tested by renewed fire between Israel and Iran.
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open down 79.5 points, 0.8%, at 10, 288.55 on Monday. The index of London large-caps closed up 7.73 points, 0.1%, at 10,368.05 on Friday.
Sterling was at USD1.3336 on Monday morning, down from USD1.3371 at the London equities close on Friday. Against the euro, sterling fell to EUR1.1564 from EUR1.1583.
The euro was lower at USD1.1525 from USD1.1542. Against the yen, the dollar was a little higher at JPY160.33 versus JPY160.27.
Israel launched airstrikes against Iran early on Monday, despite earlier calls for restraint from US President Donald Trump.
The Israel Defence Forces said it had struck military targets "belonging to the Iranian terror regime" after Iran had earlier launched missiles against Israel for the first time since a fragile ceasefire came into effect in April.
The IDF said the attacks had targeted western and central Iran. Iranian state television said explosions had been heard in Isfahan, Tabriz and Tehran. Iran closed the airspace surrounding Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport.
In response, Brent crude was trading higher at USD97.58 a barrel on Monday morning from USD93.70 on Friday.
The White House has not commented on the Israeli strikes but Trump earlier told Fox News Channel he wanted the Iranians to stop firing missiles and return to the negotiating table.
He also said he was "not happy" about Israel's strikes on Lebanon on Sunday.
A senior US official told the Associated Press that Trump had spoken to Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and called on him not to carry out any immediate response to the Iranian attacks.
Meanwhile, OPEC+ ministers decided to increase oil quotas by a total 188,000 barrels per day for July, in a move analysts said would be unlikely to have an impact on prices sent higher by the Mideast war.
In the US on Friday, Wall Street ended lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 1.4%, the S&P 500 sank 2.6% while the Nasdaq Composite lost 4.2%.
In Asia on Monday, the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo was down 4.1%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was 2.3% lower, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong lost 1.8%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney fell 0.7%.
Japan's economy climbed by less than previously estimated in the first quarter of 2026, Cabinet Office data showed.
The country's gross domestic product grew 0.4% on-year in the first quarter of 2026, lower than previously reported 0.6%, but up from 0.3% in the fourth quarter of 2025, which was revised up from 0.2%.
Japan's economy rose at an annualised 1.8% on-quarter in the first quarter, revised down from previously estimated 2.1%, but beating the FXStreet-cited consensus of a sharper revision to growth of 1.3%.
Gold was lower at USD4,287.20 an ounce early on Monday from USD4,336.06 late Friday.
Monday's local corporate calendar has full-year results from GENinCode.
The global economic calendar includes US consumer inflation expectations and German factory orders figures.
By Michael Hennessey, Alliance News reporter
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