20th Apr 2026 06:58
(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open lower on Monday, as hopes of a peace deal in the Middle East faded after the US fired on an Iranian vessel.
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open down 48.9 points, 0.5%, at 10,618.73 on Monday. The index of London large-caps closed up 77.64 points, 0.7%, at 10,667.63 on Friday.
Sterling was at USD1.3488 on Monday morning, down from USD1.3556 at the London equities close on Friday. Against the euro, sterling was little changed at EUR1.1480 from EUR1.1481.
The euro was lower at USD1.1749 from USD1.1805. Against the yen, the dollar was higher at JPY158.99 versus JPY158.08.
Iran does not plan to attend talks with the US, state media IRIB said, after US President Donald Trump ordered US negotiators to Pakistan just days before a ceasefire in the Middle East expires.
The ongoing US blockade of Iranian ports has been a significant sticking point, and that issue is likely to be further complicated by Trump's Sunday announcement that an American destroyer had fired on and hit an Iranian ship that tried to evade it.
The Fars and Tasnim news agencies had earlier cited anonymous sources as saying "the overall atmosphere cannot be assessed as very positive".
State-run IRNA meanwhile pointed to the blockade and Washington's "unreasonable and unrealistic demands", saying that "in these circumstances, there is no clear prospect of fruitful negotiations".
Brent oil was trading higher at USD95.29 a barrel on Monday morning from USD89.15 on Friday.
Over the weekend, the Strait of Hormuz remained closed, with Iran's powerful speaker of parliament signalling a final peace deal was "far" off.
Pepperstone analyst Michael Brown said: "The one thing we must question... is my prior working assumption that neither side was actively seeking a re-escalation in hostilities, which is now in some doubt after renewed attacks on commercial shipping over the weekend.
"Still, I'd wager that – once more – President Trump's threats to 'knock out' infrastructure in Iran are an example of the now-familiar 'escalate to de-escalate' negotiating gambit."
In the US on Friday, Wall Street ended higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 1.8%, the S&P 500 1.2% higher and the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.5%.
In Asia on Monday, the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo was up 0.8%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was 0.5% higher, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong gained 0.4%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney was slightly lower.
Gold was lower at USD4,784.50 an ounce early on Monday from USD4,869.13 late Friday.
Monday's global economic calendar has Canadian CPI and German PPI figures.
The local corporate calendar has full-year results from advertising agency M&C Saatchi, and a trading statement from Workday partner and IT services provider Kainos Group.
By Michael Hennessey, Alliance News reporter
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