LIVE: FTSE and US stocks mixed as Middle East tensions simmer
How major markets are performing on Monday
The FTSE 100, some major European indices and US stocks were mixed on Monday, as tensions fray further in the middle east.
Thousands are dead already across Gaza and Israel. Israel's defence minister said the campaign against Hamas could take "one month, two months, three months... at the end there will be no more Hamas."
The FTSE 100 (^FTSE) was down 0.4% by Monday afternoon in London, while Germany's DAX (^GDAXI) declined 0.2% and the CAC (^FCHI) in Paris was up 0.4%.
In the US, the S&P 500 (^GSPC) was up 0.2%, the Dow (^DJI) was almost flat and the tech-heavy Nasdaq was up 0.5%.
"US markets initially took their cues from today’s weak European session, dragged lower by a combination of rising US rates, and uncertainty over the US economic outlook with the S&P500 slipping to its lowest levels since 1st June, briefly slipping below the 4,200 level, before rebounding," said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK.
"We’ve seen a bit of a recovery since that dip, helped by a retreat in yields from their intraday highs after a tweet from Pershing Square’s Bill Ackman that he had covered his bond shorts and that the US economy was weaker than it looked."
A fall in all prices hit oil majors such as BP (BP.L) as aid reached the Gaza strip. BP was down 2.5% by the close in London.
Read more: The best and worst UK banks for current and savings accounts
Mining stocks were also dragging down London's premier index.
Last week the FTSE posted its largest fall since August, as UK 30-year borrowing costs hit a 25-year high due to inflation.
Follow along with us live today:
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Here are our trending tickers courtesy of Yahoo Finance UK reporter Pedro Goncalves:
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Trending tickers: latest investor updates on Apple, Amazon, Barclays and Tesla
Yahoo FinanceThe latest investor updates on stocks that are trending on Monday.
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Alphabet (GOOG) (Google's parent company) is down slightly in premarket trading after it was revealed Japan's Fair Trade Commission would probe the company on suspicion of violating the antimonopoly act.
The investigation will focus on Google's web search function.
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Chevron snaps up Hess
Oil major Chevron (CVX) is down about 3.6% in premarket following news it will buy out a smaller rival Hess. The deal is worth $53bn and is set to give Chevron a leg up in Guyana as companies rush to exploit its reserves. The moves into the South American country come despite campaigners.
Shareholders of Hess will get 1.0250 shares of Chevron for each Hess share, equivalent to $171 per share.
The total deal size is $60bn when including debt.
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Bitcoin on the up
Bitcoin (BTC-USD) is comfortably trading above the $30k mark for the first time in months, spurred on by optimism surrounding a spot ETF approval in the US. It's up more than 2% alone in European trading hours.
Here's a one-month chart:
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Risers and fallers in the FTSE 100 this morning:
Rentokil (RTO.L) -- down 3.1% after the company warned of softening demand in North America.
Fresnillo (FRES.L) -- down 2.9% alongside other mining stocks.
Segro (SGRO.L) -- declined 2.7%.
St James's Place (STJ.L) -- in the red 2.1% as recent decisions on fee structure continue to play out.
Ocado (OCDO.L) -- typically volatile, the food delivery and warehousing tech company is up 6.3% today. The stock is at its highest point in over a week.
Next (NXT.L) -- 1.4% higher ahead of a trading statement next week.
Flutter (FLTR.L) -- the gambling stock rose 1.2% in early trade.
Frasers Group (FRAS.L) -- up 1.4% after a bumpy ride last week.
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Also a big week for earnings coming up, as Neil Wilson of Finalto notes:
It’s a huge week for earnings on Wall Street with around a third of the Dow Jones industrial average reporting Q3 numbers, whilst Big Tech gets an outing with Microsoft, Meta, Alphabet and Amazon due to report. European banks are due to report - +11% YTD for the Stoxx banks index. In London, Barclays, Lloyds, Standard Chartered and NatWest are due up this week – peak rates, but what about the mortgage market? Looking to see in particular what the housing market is doing to Lloyds and what investment banking looks like for Barclays.
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Today is fairly light on economic news but tomorrow we can expect:
UK unemployment rate
Germany consumer confidence
UK PMI
European PMI
US crude oil stock levels
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Overnight in Asia
Concerns about the ongoing war in Israel and the Gaza Strip continue to hang over Asian markets. The Hang Seng (^HSI) was 0.7% lower by the close weighed down by large tech stocks such as Alibaba and Tencent. The SSE Composite (000001.SS) also declined 1.4%.
Chinese stocks have been hampered in recent months particularly by concerns about stagnating growth.
The Nikkei (^N225) in Japan was also down 0.8%.
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Good morning! Logging on for the live blog this morning after a punishing week for the FTSE 100 last week. Still looks set to head into negative territory when markets open later on. Let's get to it.
Watch: 'Cautiously Optimistic' on China Fixed Income: Ninety One
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