17th Aug 2026 06:58
(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open higher on Monday, eating into some of last week's decline, while Asian stocks were largely higher.
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open 19.3 points higher, 0.2%, at 10,769.41 on Monday. The index of London large-caps closed down 22.56 points, 0.2%, at 10,750.11 on Friday, losing 1.4% for the whole week.
"Friday's weak US retail-sales numbers came on top of softer July payrolls and moderation in producer prices, and the cumulative effect has been to take some heat out of the near-term tightening story. The market-implied probability of a September hike has fallen materially from where it stood only a week ago, the front end of the Treasury curve has rallied, and the dollar has slipped back toward its weakest levels since May," Quintex Intel analyst Stephen Innes commented.
Sterling traded at USD1.3557 on Monday, up from USD1.3550 late Friday. Against the euro, it faded to EUR1.1694 from EUR1.1698.
The euro rose to USD1.1588 from USD1.1583. Against the yen, the dollar faded to JPY159.04 from JPY159.12.
The yield on the US 10-year Treasury eased to 4.68% from 4.69%. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury narrowed to 5.25% from 5.27%.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 was 0.4% higher.
According to first preliminary estimates from the Cabinet Office, Japan's gross domestic product grew 0.3% quarter-on-quarter in the three months to June, missing the 0.5% FXStreet-cited consensus forecast and coming in below the first quarter's 0.5% rise.
The Shanghai Composite was up 1.0%. The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong shot up 1.8%. In Sydney, however, the S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.5%.
UK house prices saw a "much larger than usual" fall in August, according to a Rightmove report, and the online property platform has downgraded its average price forecast for this year.
The average asking price of a newly-listed property decreased 2.0% month-on-month in August, to GBP364,999. In July, prices had fallen by 1.0%.
"Prices usually fall in August, but this is a much larger August price drop than the ten-year average of 1.3%, and the largest since 2018," Rightmove noted. "The number of available homes for sale is at a 12-year high for this time of year.
"When combined with the traditionally quiet summer holiday period, this has led to lower price expectations from sellers who have decided to come to market at this time of year, despite the lower volume of active buyers."
Average prices declined by 1.0% year-on-year in August, which Rightmove said is the largest annual fall since December, 2023.
In the US on Friday, Wall Street ended lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.2%, the S&P 500 down 0.2% and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.3%.
Nvidia had a roughly USD21 billion holding in SpaceX at the end of the second quarter, according to a regulatory filing on Friday, continuing a trend of the chipmaker buying up stakes in customers and partners.
The stake was revealed in a 13F report filed by Santa Clara, California-based Nvidia, which has been at the heart of the market for chips to serve the high-end artificial intelligence sector.
The filing showed Nvidia owned a USD20.98 billion chunk of SpaceX at the end of June, 122.8 million shares.
Iran on Saturday fired back at US President Donald Trump's claim that he would soon declare the Strait of Hormuz part of US territory, saying the crucial energy waterway it has blockaded "will remain Iranian".
Trump has repeatedly said the strait, which Tehran effectively closed at the start of the Middle East war in late February, is under US control – an assertion the Islamic republic denies.
"The Strait of Hormuz has been Iranian, is Iranian, and will remain Iranian," Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said on X.
"This strait will only be closed and opened under Iran's command."
Trump told a political rally in New York state on Friday that after the US defeats Iran, "pretty soon I'll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the US".
Gold rose to USD4,394.51 an ounce early Monday from USD4,388.17 late Friday. A barrel of Brent rose to USD88.27 from USD87.94.
Monday's UK corporate calendar has full-year results from Optima Health.
By Eric Cunha, Alliance News news editor
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