Good morning. The FTSE 100 looks set to open broadly flat as Asian shares mostly slipped overnight amid nagging inflation concerns.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 led the retreat, falling 1.6%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and the Shanghai Composite both shed 0.6% and 0.5% respectively.
Oil is once again the villain of the piece. Brent crude edged up to $91.08 a barrel in early trade, having jumped 2.7% on Monday, as the war in Iran keeps traders on edge over global supply.
For context, Brent has swung wildly between $72 and $102 over the past month alone.
That climb is rippling through bond markets, with the 10-year US Treasury yield rising to 4.72%, up sharply from just 3.97% before the conflict began.
Higher yields mean higher borrowing costs, and America’s long-term mortgage rate has already crept close to a one-year high.
On Wall Street, stocks drifted further from last week’s records, with the S&P 500 down 0.5% and the Dow shedding 272 points.
Analysts reckon strong earnings can only cushion the blow for so long. Plenty to mull over, then.
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