25th Jun 2026 06:55
(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open lower on Thursday, with talks between Iran and the US reportedly set to resume next week.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, during a visit to Kuwait City, that he believed technical talks between the US and Iran would resume on June 29 or 30 in Switzerland. He also promised the US' Gulf allies that Washington would protect their interests.
Meanwhile, in the UK, consumer confidence improved slightly in June, amid an easing in the Middle East conflict and reduced concerns about energy prices and inflation, according to data from the British Retail Consortium.
Data from the BRC-Opinium consumer sentiment monitor showed expectations for the state of the UK economy over the next three months improved to minus 43 points in June, up from minus 48 points in May.
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open down 24.2 points, 0.2%, on Thursday. The index of London large-caps closed up 32.78 points, 0.3%, at 10,461.63 on Wednesday.
Sterling was quoted at USD1.3178 early Thursday, higher than USD1.3167 at the London equities close on Wednesday. Against the euro, sterling rose to EUR1.1593 from EUR1.1591 a day prior.
The euro traded at USD1.1362 early Thursday, higher than USD1.1358 late Wednesday. Against the yen, the dollar was quoted flat at JPY161.76.
In the US on Wednesday, Wall Street ended mixed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.4%, the S&P 500 down 0.1% and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.4%.
In Asia on Thursday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo was up 4.4%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was up 0.2%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was down 1.7%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney was down 0.4%.
Gold was quoted at USD3,983.81 an ounce early Thursday, lower than USD4,014.40 on Wednesday.
Brent oil was trading at USD72.50 a barrel early Thursday, lower than USD73.45 late Wednesday.
In Thursday's corporate calendar, several companies report full-year results, including Moonpig, Wise and Halfords.
In the economic calendar on Thursday morning, look out for Spain's GDP and producer inflation data. The afternoon has several US releases, including GDP and personal consumption expenditures.
By Emma Curzon, Alliance News reporter
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