Welcome back to ‘s FTSE 100 liveblog.
It’s Wednesday morning and London’s blue-chip index has swerved expectations to rise at open despite some broader jitters overseas.
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.
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SUBSCRIBE HERE“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.
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Here’s a few of our top headlines this morning: