6th Oct 2026 06:14
(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open higher on Tuesday, after promising trade in Asia, defying lofty government bond yields.
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open 35.2 points higher, 0.3%, at 10,533.14 on Tuesday. The index of London large-caps closed up 35.99 points, 0.3%, at 10,497.94 on Monday.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 was up 0.7%. The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong was up 0.8%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney was up 0.6%. Financial markets in Shanghai are closed.
In the US on Monday, Wall Street ended higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.2%, the S&P 500 up 0.7% and the Nasdaq Composite up 1.1%.
It was tech leading the charge in New York.
Quintex Intel analyst Stephen Innes commented: "For years, investors built portfolios around a fairly dependable chain reaction: yields rise, discount rates go up, duration gets hit, expensive growth stocks wobble, and the equity market eventually pays the bill. That machinery is not working with the same precision any more because the AI boom has changed the transmission channel.
"The companies doing the heaviest lifting in the index are increasingly leaning on debt markets and issuing enormous amounts of paper, but current yields are still well within historical norms and nowhere near high enough to force a retreat in investment. These are not fragile growth stories begging the bond market for permission to spend. They are businesses with enormous cash flows, fortress balance sheets and capex budgets that have become remarkably insensitive to rates."
The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 5.32%, narrowing from 5.33% at the time of the London equities close on Monday. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury was quoted at 5.68%, steady from Monday.
Euro weakness amid fiscal nerves in France was a focus on Monday, though the single currency recovered some ground on Tuesday morning. The euro bought USD1.1213 Tuesday, up from USD1.1193 at the time of the London equities close on Monday. Sterling traded at EUR1.1777, down from EUR1.1792.
Against the dollar, the pound was steady at USD1.3217 from USD1.3218. The dollar bought JPY158.15, up from JPY157.99.
A barrel of Brent eased to USD100.90 early Tuesday from USD102.32 late Monday afternoon. Gold traded at USD4,124.33 an ounce, down from USD4,137.43.
The Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen said Monday they had struck the international airport in the Saudi capital Riyadh, a Saudi Arabian Oil refinery and sites across the kingdom's south.
The attacks, which included drones, ballistic and cruise missiles, "targeted King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh," said Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree, adding that "the Aramco refinery in Rabigh" was also hit along with military sites and smaller airports in the south.
US President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order allowing drivers to use tax-exempt red-dyed diesel, a fuel normally reserved for farm machinery and other off-road equipment, on public roads.
The move came as surging pump prices tied to the Iran war weighed on Trump's Republican Party weeks before the US midterm elections.
Speaking at a rally in Nebraska, Trump told supporters the order would "officially waive the off-road requirement and allow anyone to purchase tax-free red-dyed diesel for any reason."
Tuesday's global economic calendar includes eurozone retail sales figures, French industrial production data, German factory orders numbers, and a US trade report.
By Eric Cunha, Alliance News news editor
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