09:50 — FTSE 100 starts week flat and boring; possibly calm before storm as analysts eye risks ahead
The London index remained predictably dull on a quiet Monday at the start of August's last full trading week, with the FTSE 100 up just 6 points at 10,822.83.
Susannah Streeter, analyst at Wealth Club, said markets "tread water as fresh trade tensions and the threat of tougher Iran sanctions unsettle investors," a read that matches the muted FTSE session so far, though many continue to digest America's interventionist move in bond markets last week.
In Deutsche Bank's market commentary, analysts noted long-end Treasury yield pressure "has shown initial signs of easing," but flagged that "the negative momentum in equities has continued."
XTB went further, warning "there is still a chance the US Treasury sell-off becomes a full-blown crisis," while Interactive Investor called the coming days "a stern test of investor mettle".
No doubt these will be keenly watched points of conversation at the Jackson Hole economy and banking shin-dig.
Also likely to steer sentiments this week will be Nvidia's results on Wednesday.
08:21 — FTSE 100 opens flat, AIM resource provide the early movers
The FTSE 100 opened as indifferently as anticipated, beginning the last full week of August up 1 point at 10,818.
Glancing at the movers, Anglo American (LSE:AAL) has added 102p to trade at 4,067p, up 2.55%, while South32 (LSE:S32) has edged to a session high of 264.2p.
Among the small-caps Tertiary Minerals jumped 10.34% after confirming further pXRF results from Target A1 at Mushima North support its exploration target of 15-30 million tonnes at 40-60 g/t silver.
Cora Gold has climbed 8.57% after Mali's government approved the first interim renewal of its Sanankoro II exploration permit. Synectics (LSE:SNX) is up 5.41% after securing a £1.4 million contract to supply security and surveillance systems to Eni's Kutei FPSO project, and Petards (AIM:PEG) has gained 5% on £0.7 million of new rail orders from a global train builder.
Tower Resources (AIM:TRP) remains the outlier, down 8.13% despite announcing a £325,000 subscription alongside a licence update.
The price of gold continued higher to $4,703, up 0.48%, alongside a firmer dollar index at 98.89.
Brent crude was down 1.77% to $91.22.
06:46 — FTSE 100 to start the week exactly where we left it
London's FTSE 100 is seen little changed ahead of Monday's open, with IG's early pre-market quote marked at 10,809, down a single point.
It follows Friday's strong finish on Wall Street, when the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 535 points, or 1.01%, to 53,294.07, the S&P 500 added 0.47% to 7,677.19 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.47% to 26,190.34.
The 'VIX', the CBOE Volatility Index (aka the 'fear index') dropped sharply on Friday too, down 4.87% to 15.23, reflecting the calmer tone into the close of last week.
This morning, Capital.com's Kyle Rodda described Wall Street as having "capped off an otherwise negative week on a positive note, heading into another that carries far greater event risk and potential volatility," pointing to geopolitical tensions, rising Treasury yields and fiscal-policy uncertainty as risks for the week ahead.
Swissquote's Ipek Ozkardeskaya, in the broker's commentary, struck a similarly cautious note, warning that fragile sentiment around AI financing, trade tensions, energy prices and rising sovereign debt could weigh on markets even if Nvidia's upcoming results beat expectations.
Overnight, Asia's session was soft, with Tokyo's Nikkei 225 down 305 points, or 0.46%, to 65,711.4.
Out-of-hours indications for Wall Street point the same way as the FTSE call: the S&P 500 is indicated down 0.17%, the Dow down 0.09%, and the Nasdaq 100 down 0.53%. Brent crude is indicated 1.34% softer at $91.62 and WTI is down 1.59% at $85.49.
The dollar index is flat at 98.849, gold holds steady at $4,689.
In crypto, bitcoin has slipped 0.81% to $77,100, with ether down 0.59% to $2,448.57, a soft tone in crypto that sits apart from the broadly steadier picture elsewhere.
Looking ahead, the coming week brings Nvidia's results which, in the remaining 'dog days' of August, is perhaps likely to be a possible swing factor for risk appetite, depending which way it points sentiments after a summer that's seen growing scepticism over perceived "AI bubble".
Elsewhere in the space, Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) has raised $10.2bn in Hong Kong to invest in its Chinese AI infrastructure push.
Meanwhile, Shein is also due to debut on the Hong Kong stock exchange on 1 September, in a listing expected to value the fast-fashion group at close to $27bn.
