Stocks perk up and oil cools as US and Iran halt hostilities

By Ankur Banerjee and Harry Robertson

SINGAPORE/LONDON, June 29 (Reuters) - European stocks and U.S. futures ticked higher connected Monday aft the U.S. and Iran agreed to halt caller hostilities and renew talks, helping lipid prices autumn aft spiking ‌earlier connected Monday successful the aftermath of renewed attacks betwixt the 2 sides.

A instrumentality to diplomacy would travel respective ‌days of tit-for-tat strikes since an Iranian projectile deed a cargo vas successful the Strait of Hormuz past week, with some sides accusing each different of breaking ​an interim ceasefire.

Europe's STOXX 600 scale roseate 0.1% successful greeting trading portion futures for the U.S. S&P 500 climbed 0.7%.

Oil initially climbed connected Monday aft the U.S. and Iran traded strikes implicit the weekend, but past cooled to commercialized astatine astir its lowest since the struggle began.

Brent crude was past small changed astatine $72.20 a barrel, down 22% for the month.

"The marketplace tin instrumentality immoderate alleviation successful the little lipid ‌prices and its interaction connected the planetary economy," ⁠said Mohit Kumar, main European economist astatine Jefferies.

"Lower lipid prices should pb to a diversification commercialized and growth-sensitive sectors which person suffered successful the past fewer months should outperform."

Asian markets pared earlier losses, with ⁠South Korea's KOSPI down 0.2% and Japan's Nikkei up 0.15%.

RATE HIKE WAGERS

Easing lipid prices should assistance trim immoderate terms pressures but measures of ostentation person nevertheless jumped successful the U.S. and elsewhere, putting unit connected the Federal Reserve to hike rates.

Rising likelihood of a complaint hike person ​lifted the ​dollar. The dollar index, which measures the U.S. currency against peers, was ​at 101.25, conscionable beneath the one-year precocious it touched ‌last week. [FRX/]

The Japanese yen fell somewhat to 161.80 per U.S. dollar arsenic fears of different bout of involution from Tokyo kept the fragile currency from breaking done its lowest successful 40 years.

Investors are pricing successful astatine slightest 1 Fed hike this year, a crisp reversal from expectations of 2 complaint cuts earlier the struggle began.

BofA strategists expect 3 hikes, a much hawkish presumption that successful portion reflects beardown U.S. jobs growth.

The rising dollar has weighed connected gold, which was down 0.6% astatine $4,061 per ounce. The yellowish metallic is acceptable ‌for a 13% diminution successful the 2nd quarter, its biggest quarterly driblet ​since 2013. [GOL/]

TECH WORRIES LINGER

Investors person besides been battling concerns that valuations for AI-related ​firms person go stretched pursuing years of gains.

Futures for the ​tech-heavy Nasdaq roseate 1% connected Monday, putting the U.S. scale connected way for a rebound aft it ‌slumped much than 4% past week.