London (AFP) – Oil prices sank more than four percent Monday as a report that Donald Trump wanted to negotiate with Iran raised hope of ending the Middle East war, as the US president prepared for pivotal midterm elections. Weighing on crude futures was also Iran saying it is ready to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within two days should the United States agree to ending the war on all fronts, among other conditions related to the conflict.
The Axios news outlet reported that US Vice President JD Vance had sent a letter to Iranian national security chief Mohsen Rezaei about possible new talks, marking the highest-level move in months. Share prices of energy majors dropped as gas prices also fell, while many other sectors were boosted by the cooling fuel costs.
“We believe the (Trump) signals may be tactical ahead of tomorrow’s US midterm elections,” noted Arne Lohmann Rasmussen, chief analyst at Global Risk Management. “Meanwhile, attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz continue (and) we maintain our higher-for-longer outlook for energy prices.” All eyes are on Tuesday’s midterms, with Democrats expecting to win at least partial control of Congress that would impose political constraints on Trump for the first time in two years.
The loss of total Republican dominance would push the president into unfamiliar and uncomfortable territory: a lame-duck period beset with high inflation at home, the sputtering war against Iran, and hostile Democratic investigations into his activities in Washington. “Investors are bracing for a fresh round of turbulence ahead of US midterm election fireworks while they assess the extent that companies are burning through cash to keep the AI bonfires burning,” said Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist at Wealth Club.
Technology firms’ share prices retreated further after Friday’s selloff, as more poorly received earnings from US titans fanned deepening concerns about the investment boom for artificial intelligence. Results updates from Apple, Advanced Micro Devices, and software titan Palantir will be closely watched this week.
The share price of Japanese chipmaker Kioxia plunged nearly 16 percent Monday after the company gave a cautious outlook that fell short of forecasts. The company has plunged about 70 percent from its record high set in June, although it is still up more than 200 percent since the start of the year. There were tech gains elsewhere, however, with Taiwan’s TSMC adding almost two percent and SK hynix gaining 3.8 percent.
Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies were steadier after Friday’s retreat triggered by the world’s biggest crypto exchange Binance suffering the sector’s largest hack, with more than $6 billion stolen. On the corporate front, shares in Alstom dropped over 25 percent after the maker of France’s TGV trains said it had uncovered new production issues with its new Coradia Max regional trains. That forced it to lower its profit targets for the second time in six months. Its market value is now just 5.3 billion euros, compared with 12 billion euros at the beginning of the year.
– Key figures at around 1115 GMT –
Brent North Sea crude: DOWN 4.2 percent at $108.66 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 4.3 percent at $99.61 per barrel
London – FTSE 100: UP 0.1 percent at 10,737.34 points
Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.4 percent at 8,002.78 (close)
Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.3 percent at 25,889.25 (close)
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.3 percent at 63,081.86 (close)
Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.4 percent at 23,393.32 (close)
Shanghai – Composite: UP 1.1 percent at 3,638.03 (close)
New York – Dow: DOWN 1.1 percent at 51,770.31 (close)
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1203 from $1.1168 on Friday
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3409 from $1.3396
Dollar/yen: UP at 157.94 yen from 157.54 yen
Euro/pound: UP at 83.57 pence from 83.37 pence
burs-bcp/ajb/rl
© 2024 AFP
