9th Jun 2026 06:51
(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open slightly higher on Tuesday, after Iran and Israel said they would end recent hostilities that had threatened peace talks.
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open up 6.3 points, 0.1%, at 10,379.50 on Tuesday. The index of London large-caps closed 5.15 points, 0.1%, at 10,373.20 on Monday.
Pharmaceutical firm GSK is in talks to buy Cambridge, Massachusetts-based cancer drugmaker Nuvalent for over USD9 billion, the Financial Times reports.
It would be a premium to its nearly USD7 billion market capitalisation at Monday's close on the Nasdaq.
GSK and Nuvalent did not immediately respond to the FT's responds to requests for comment.
Sterling was at USD1.3362 on Tuesday morning, up from USD1.3339 at the London equities close on Monday. Against the euro, sterling rose slightly to EUR1.1569 from EUR1.1561.
The euro was a little higher at USD1.1546 from USD1.1539. Against the yen, the dollar edged up to JPY160.14 from JPY160.12.
Iran and Israel said that hostilities between them had halted, after the two countries exchanged strikes that threatened to reignite the Middle East war.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the "fire on that front is contained" hours after Tehran said it had stopped its military action.
Tehran launched missiles at Israel on Sunday over Israel's ongoing war against Hezbollah in Lebanon. Israel then struck back, despite efforts by US President Donald Trump to dissuade Netanyahu.
That triggered another round of Iranian missiles, before Tehran announced it would cease fire.
In response, Brent crude was trading lower at USD93.06 a barrel on Tuesday morning from USD94.75 on Monday.
Meanwhile, China's trade surplus widened in May as both exports and imports accelerated, official data showed.
According to figures from the General Administration of Customs, China's trade balance surplus stood at USD105.43 billion in May compared to USD84.82 billion in April.
The latest reading exceeded the USD92.10 billion consensus forecast cited by FXStreet.
In the US on Monday, Wall Street ended mixed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.2%, while the S&P 500 edged up 0.3% while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.9%.
Back in the UK, retail sales rose as the UK enjoyed unseasonably hot weather in May, data showed, but just as June brought cooler, wetter conditions, so the longer-term outlook for the high street remains uncertain.
According to the British Retail Consortium-KPMG retail sales monitor, total retail sales rose 3.7% annually in May, improved from 1.0% growth in May 2025.
Food sales increased by 3.9% on-year, accelerating from 3.6% a year earlier, while non-food sales increased 3.5%, swinging from a decline of 1.1% in May 2025.
In Asia on Tuesday, the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo was up 2.1%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was 0.7% higher, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong edged up 0.1%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney fell 0.1%.
ChatGPT-maker OpenAI took the first step toward going public, one week after arch-rival Anthropic announced its own filing, as both companies look to raise the massive sums needed to expand.
In a social media post, the Sam Altman-led company said it had confidentially submitted an S-1 registration statement to US securities regulators but had "not decided on timing yet" for any potential debut.
Gold was higher at USD4,350.82 an ounce early on Tuesday from USD4,330.27 late Monday.
Tuesday's local corporate calendar has a trading statement from housebuilder Bellway.
Tuesday's global economic calendar has trade figures in Canada plus the BRC retail sales monitor report in the UK and US existing home sales and wholesale inventories data.
By Michael Hennessey, Alliance News reporter
Comments and questions to [email protected]
Copyright 2026 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
Glaxosmithkline