As it happened: Stocks fall as oil creeps up; Trump to ‘finish job’ in Iran
Welcome back to the City PM liveblog.
The escalation of the conflict in the Middle East has wiped out the recovery across global markets that had slowly took place over the last few weeks.
The US and Iran exchanged further fire overnight, with America’s central command stating it had hit around 90 Iranian targets in its latest wave of strike.
Iran has hit back with strikes on military sites in Bahrain and Kuwait. The regime in Tehran has also threatened a “massive” attack on response to the US strikes.
Speaking at the Nato summit in Turkey, Donald Trump said: “We just hit them very hard, and I say we hit them 20… they hit us, we’re going to hit them 20”.
The US President has also suggested he no longer wants to do a deal with Iran, telling a news conference late last night: “Let’s just finish the job”.
The renewed tensions have handed a blow to the UK economy, which was hit with a surge in borrowing costs as 10-year gilt yields stormed 13 basis points higher to 4.98 per cent.
The US and Iran had agreed to a memorandum of understanding on 17 June, which paused military action for 60-days as they negotiated a lasting peace deal.
But thornier matters, such as Iran’s capacity to possess a nuclear weapon and control over the Strait of Hormuz have continued to provide challenges to the negotiating teams and kept markets on edge.
We’ll be bringing you all the latest market updates and analysis.
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