Highlights
- FTSE 100 down 6 at 10,675
- Wall Street makes positive start
- Miners lead the way
- Glencore upgraded
Wall Street nudges ahead
Wall Street has opened on the front foot, with the Dow Jones up 0.2% and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq just above the flat line.
Oil is doing the heavy lifting, or rather the heavy dropping. Brent crude has slid to around $98 a barrel, from above $108 on Thursday, as hopes of a US-Iran deal build.
Bonds remain jittery, with the 10-year Treasury yield at its highest since the financial crisis.
Xi Jinping wraps up his White House visit with little to show beyond a red carpet.
None of that cheer has crossed the Atlantic.
The FTSE 100 has slipped into the red in mid-afternoon trade, surrendering its earlier gains.
Not quite the Friday finish London had in mind.
Wall Street futures point higher
The FTSE 100 was 26 points higher heading into the afternoon, though it has let a chunk of its morning gains slip through its fingers.
Across the pond, US futures are pointing to a modestly brighter open.
Dow Jones and S&P 500 contracts edged up 0.2%, with the Nasdaq-100 ahead 0.5%.
Bonds and oil are still calling the tune.
The 10-year Treasury yield hit its highest level since the global financial crisis on Thursday, though Brent crude has eased back to about $105 a barrel.
American drivers are paying close to $4.50 a gallon for petrol, which rather spoils the mood.
Costco beat forecasts with fourth-quarter revenue of $95.72 billion, insisting its members remain "very resilient".
Meanwhile, Xi Jinping's White House visit produced a red carpet, a lavish dinner and not much else.
Oil eases and bonds catch a breather
Friday has brought a little relief to battered bond markets, as oil backs off on hopes of a US-Iran deal.
Tehran has floated a seven-day ceasefire and a phased plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz in return for the US lifting its blockade.
Brent crude slipped back to around $105 a barrel, having spiked above $108 on Thursday after Houthi missiles were fired at Saudi Arabia.
That took some heat out of yields, which had surged on Thursday.
The US 10-year Treasury yield hit a 19-year high of 5.23%, while the UK equivalent neared 5.4%.
Markets now see a 70% chance the Federal Reserve raises rates in October.
The pound, down more than 1% this week, bounced off a three-month low of $1.32.
The FTSE 100 edged 28 points.
Iran's offer looks much like the previous ones, mind.Nobody should be popping the champagne just yet.
Glencore upgraded
Glencore won an upgrade to 'buy' from 'neutral' at UBS, which lifted its price target to 650p from 620p. That implies upside of around 18% from Thursday's close of 549p. Shares in the FTSE 100 miner and commodities trader rose 3% to 565.4p on Friday
Miners lead the charge
London's largest miners led the FTSE 100 higher on Friday, while falling crude prices dragged oil stocks lower.
The index rose 43 points to 10,733, with Glencore topping the leaderboard after a 3% gain to 565.4p.
Anglo American and Antofagasta both climbed 2.6%, while Fresnillo added 2.4% and Endeavour Mining gained 2%.
The breadth of the rally pointed to a wider rotation into mining shares, with copper near record levels and gold at US$4,303 an ounce.
Brent crude slipped 1.1% to US$105.47 a barrel, sending Ithaca Energy down 3.1%, BP 2.5% lower and Shell off 1%.
British Airways owner International Consolidated Airlines rose 2% on the prospect of cheaper fuel.
Preview
The FTSE 100 is expected to open around 41 points higher, shrugging off a bond selloff that has rattled markets elsewhere.
The US 10-year Treasury yield hovered at 5.19% after hitting a 19-year high on Thursday, while the 30-year reached its highest since 2004.
Asian stocks mostly slipped, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng down nearly 2%, though Tokyo's Nikkei rose 1.3%.
Brent crude eased after jumping more than 3% on Thursday following a Houthi missile attack on Saudi Arabia.
Reports of a possible US-Iran deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz cooled prices.
Traders now price a 70% chance of a Federal Reserve rate rise in October, up from about 53% earlier in the week.
Investors are also weighing Thursday's Trump-Xi talks at the White House.
London, for now, looks happy to ignore the noise.
