Oil prices fell Monday on optimism over talks by the US and Iran after mediators flagged a “roadmap” to a final agreement, while major stock markets traded mixed.
The British pound and the London stock market firmed, and the UK’s benchmark 10-year bond dipped, after Britain’s embattled Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced his widely expected resignation, with the country appearing set for an orderly transition to a new leader.
Internationally, the main focus remained firmly on the Middle East and the prospects for a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz to tanker and cargo traffic.
Iran’s senior envoys left talks in Switzerland on Monday after a marathon negotiating session with the United States, state media reported, as mediators claimed progress towards a definitive US-Iran deal end the war in the Gulf.
“The latest developments out of the Middle East have turned more constructive,” said Deutsche Bank analyst Jim Reid, adding that a pickup in oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz was “helping to calm markets”.
