2nd Jul 2026 06:55
(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open lower on Thursday, as oil fell after reports of "positive progress" during indirect talks between US and Iranian negotiators.
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open down 11.8 points, 0.1%, at 10,466.54 on Thursday. The index of London large-caps closed down 18.78 points, 0.2%, at 10,478.34 on Wednesday.
Sterling was at USD1.3289 on Thursday morning, up from USD1.3273 at the London equities close on Wednesday. Against the euro, sterling advanced to EUR1.2668 from EUR1.1657.
The euro was flat at USD1.1384 from USD1.1383. Against the yen, the dollar was slightly lower at JPY162.38 from JPY162.43.
US and Iran negotiators made "positive progress" during indirect talks in Doha, with the next round expected after the late Iranian supreme leader's funeral, Qatar's foreign ministry spokesman said.
"Qatar & Pakistan mediators concluded separate meetings with the US & Iranian negotiators in Doha today, with positive progress made on issues related to the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding, building on the outcomes of the Lake Lucerne Summit," foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari said on X.
This echoes US President Donald Trump's prior statement that the indirect talks were making progress, offering a tentative sign that diplomacy was holding after recent exchanges of fire threatened efforts to end the Middle East war.
Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi also said the discussions covered frozen Iranian assets, whose release Tehran has demanded as part of any settlement.
He said officials reviewed the use of part of an initial USD6 billion and agreed that goods needed by Iran would be purchased and made available.
Brent crude was trading lower at USD70.74 a barrel on Thursday morning from USD71.85 on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the US will not renew its North American trade pact with Canada and Mexico, the US trade envoy said, saying annual reviews on the deal are needed.
The move is likely to fuel uncertainty for businesses in North America, given deep integration across supply chains in sectors like automobiles.
But the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement remains in force for another 10 years even if not renewed by Wednesday's deadline. If no country decides to withdraw from the free trade pact, it will be subject to annual reviews thereafter.
In the US on Wednesday, Wall Street ended lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down slightly, while the S&P 500 ended 0.2% lower and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.7%.
In Asia on Thursday, the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo was down 1.6%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was 1.5% lower, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong gained 0.7% as it reopened after Wednesday's closure. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney fell 0.1%.
Meta shares jumped 8.8% on Wednesday after Bloomberg reported plans to compete with Amazon Web Services, Microsoft's Azure and Alphabet's Google Cloud.
Meta plans to monetize its excess computing capacity, aiming to sell its own internally designed AI models to business customers for their own uses, Bloomberg said.
Gold was lower at USD4,063.33 an ounce early on Thursday from USD4,080.66 late Wednesday.
Thursday's global economic calendar has the US jobs report and eurozone unemployment figures.
Thursday's local corporate calendar has full-year results from Baltic Classifieds and Currys.
By Michael Hennessey, Alliance News reporter
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