Stocks tick higher as oil continues to fall; Standard Life buys Aegon UK - MARKETS LIVE
A wave of relative calm has washed over global markets as President Trump indicated the US and Iran would hold talks within days.Trump said further talks ‘could be happening over the next two days’ in Islamabad, and said the war was ‘very close to over’.Stocks continued to tick higher as oil retreated further to $95 a barrel, even as the US continued with its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.It was a slightly bleaker picture closer to home after the International Monetary Fund said the economic fallout from the war in Iran would hit the UK hardest on Tuesday.It slashed the UK’s growth forecasts, the biggest downgrade of all the G7 nations but the FTSE 100 shrugged off the gloomy forecasts, closing 26 points higher yesterday afternoon. London’s blue-chip index is trading flat this morning. In corporate news, Standard Life is buying Aegon’s UK business for £2billion in what it says will ‘create the UK’s largest retirement savings and income business.’M&S shakes up Sparks card Antofagasta shares rise on mixed updateSaga shares jump as it swings to profitFTSE in the green as investors eye end to the warStandard Life buys Aegon UK for £2bn
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Stocks tick higher as oil continues to fall; Standard Life buys Aegon UK - MARKETS LIVE
