16th Mar 2026 06:52
(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open higher on Monday, as the price of oil continued to tick higher at the start of a busy week for central bank meetings.
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open up 49.1 points, 0.5%, at 10,310.25 on Monday. The index of London large-caps closed down 44.00 points, 0.4%, at 10,261.15 on Friday.
Sterling was at USD1.3245 on Monday morning, up from USD1.3233 at the London equities close on Friday. The euro was lower at USD1.1427 from USD1.1437. Against the yen, the dollar was lower at JPY159.37 versus JPY159.58.
Developments in the conflict in the Middle East remained in focus for investors on Monday.
US President Donald Trump said Nato faces a "very bad" future if US allies fail to help open the Strait of Hormuz.
"If there's no response or if it's a negative response I think it will be very bad for the future of Nato," said Trump.
Trump also said an upcoming summit in Beijing with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping could be delayed as he presses for China's help to open the strait.
"We'd like to know before" the summit, Trump said, noting that China as well as many European countries rely more than the US on oil flowing from the Gulf.
Meanwhile, officials from China and the US met for trade talks in Paris on Sunday, China's state news agency Xinhua reported.
Asked about specific help he was looking for, Trump told the Financial Times he wanted minesweepers as well as "people who are going to knock out some bad actors that are along the [Iranian] shore."
Pepperstone analyst Michael Brown said: "Thus far, there remains little sign of any de-escalation from either side, while weekend US strikes on Kharg Island may well embolden retaliatory action on energy infrastructure in the Gulf, even if the US have stuck solely to military targets on Kharg for now."
"At a high level, consensus, and my own stance, clearly must now shift from this being a relatively clinical operation that proves somewhat short-lived, to one that is likely to be much more drawn out, not only as the US continue to move more military assets to the region."
Brent oil was trading higher at USD104.78 a barrel on Monday morning from USD101.57 on Friday.
In the US on Friday, Wall Street ended lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.3%, the S&P 500 0.6% lower and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.9%.
In Asia on Monday, the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo was down 0.2%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was 0.4% lower, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong gained 1.5%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney was 0.4% lower.
Meanwhile, UK house prices delivered their customary on-month climb in March, data published by Rightmove showed, though they declined year-on-year.
The average new seller asking price was up 0.8% in March, a "typical seasonal increase", to GBP371,042. On-year, the average new seller asking price was 0.2% lower in March.
Gold was lower at USD5,022.50 an ounce early on Monday from USD5,043.40 late Friday.
Monday's economic calendar has US industrial production data and a consumer price index reading for Canada.
Central bank meetings will dominate the rest of the week, with rate holds expected in the US, Japan, UK, eurozone, Canada and Switzerland.
On Monday's UK corporate calendar are full year results for insurance, savings and retirement products firm Standard Life, landscaping products maker Marshalls, and limestone and minerals company SigmaRoc.
By Michael Hennessey, Alliance News reporter
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