Welcome back to City AM‘s FTSE 100 liveblog.
It’s Wednesday morning and London’s blue-chip index looks primed to drop on open following a decline in oil prices and a sell-off in tech.
Brent crude fell below $103 per barrel, extending the week’s decline as investors weighed up possible outcome of ongoing peace negotiations between the US and Iran.
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson stated that both countries are evaluating new proposals put forward by mediators to bridge their differences. It comes despite the US completing “defensive” strikes against Iran.
Meanwhile, millions of Americans went to the polls in the US midterms where Democrats took back control of both the Senate and House of Representatives. It’s expected to have a major impact on the AI trade, with a number of battles fought over controversies around data centres.
“The AI trade has spent months worrying about financing costs. Now it may have to start worrying about the politicians controlling the power grid,” Stephen Innes, head of market strategy at SPI Asset Management, said.
In Asia overnight, markets turned red led by steep losses in tech firms. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 3.6 per cent to its lowest level since early May before reversing some losses.
Stick with us for all the latest economic and business news and updates.
Here’s a few of our top headlines this morning:
- Why Virgin Media O2 is cutting jobs and retreating from fibre
- City watchdog ‘stands ready’ to act on bank windfall tax Budget leak
- Barclays and HSBC bankers donate over $500k in US midterms
- Asda’s turnaround king names heir to the throne
- Investors urge Foxtons to face up to property market slump
