LONDON MARKET EARLY CALL: Iran sizes up US plan; Nvidia earnings beat

(Alliance News) - London's FTSE 100 is set to open lower Thursday morning, as Iran said it was mulling a new US proposal to end the war, while Nvidia shares came under pressure despite blockbuster earnings overnight.

IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open 13.6 points lower, 0.1%, at 10,418.74 on Thursday. The index of London large-caps closed up 101.79 points, 1.0%, at 10,432.34 on Wednesday.

Iran said on Wednesday it was examining a new US proposal to end the Middle East war, as President Donald Trump described the talks as being on the "borderline" between a deal and renewed strikes.

Trump, who said earlier that negotiations were in their "final stages," later warned that the window for diplomacy could close quickly.

"It's right on the borderline, believe me," Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews, near Washington. "If we don't get the right answers, it goes very quickly. We're all ready to go."

He said a deal could come "very quickly" or "in a few days," but warned Tehran would have to provide "100% good answers."

A barrel of Brent edged up to USD105.62 early Thursday from USD105.26 at the time of the London equities close on Wednesday. Gold declined to USD4,526.14 an ounce from USD4,536.32.

Sterling fell to USD1.3431 on Thursday morning from USD1.3456 late Wednesday afternoon. Against the euro, it declined to EUR1.1553 from EUR1.1568.

The euro fell to USD1.1621 from USD1.1632. Against the yen, the buck advanced to JPY159.02 from JPY158.69.

Swissquote analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya commented: "Yesterday's data confirmed that inflation in the euro area jumped to 3% in April — on the back of rising energy prices — while British consumer inflation came in softer than expected, easing to the slowest pace in more than a year.

"The bad news is that inflation in the UK will likely rise again — just look at the PPI numbers, which reflect the energy crisis quite strongly — and that will bring the uncomfortable question of higher rates back onto the table sooner rather than later. I would expect cable to remain under pressure. Another retreat toward 1.32 looks more likely than a rise above 1.37. But in the end, the US dollar will have the final say. And its trajectory is highly dependent on Middle East developments and oil prices. Expensive oil and rising inflation expectations continue to support the dollar."

Cable refers to the pound-dollar exchange rate.

The yield on the 10-year US Treasury stretched to 4.60% early Thursday, from 4.58% at the time of the London equities close on Wednesday. The 30-year yield widened to 5.13% from 5.11%.

Federal Reserve officials indicated interest rates will have to stay higher for longer, or even increase, should higher energy costs keep inflation elevated, minutes on Wednesday showed.

"Elevated inflation readings together with uncertainty related to the duration and economic implications of the Middle East conflict could necessitate maintaining the current policy stance for longer than previously anticipated," the minutes from the April Federal Open Market Committee showed.

In addition, "a majority" of participants highlighted, that some "policy firming" would likely become appropriate if inflation were to continue to run persistently above 2%, the minutes showed.

Some officials said it will likely be appropriate to lower rates once there are "clear" indications that disinflation is firmly back on track or if solid signs emerge of greater weakness in the labour market.

At its April meeting, the Federal Open Market Committee voted to leave the federal funds rate target range at 3.50%-3.75%.

Wall Street closed higher in the US on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 1.3%, the S&P 500 up 1.1% and the Nasdaq Composite up 1.5%.

Nvidia shares traded 1.3% lower after hours. It said AI demand continues to expand at an "unprecedented" pace as it delivered a beat-and-raise and rewarded shareholders with a bumper increase in its dividend.

Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang told analysts this was an "extraordinary quarter" and that demand has gone "parabolic."

"The world is rebuilding computing for agentic AI and robotic physical AI," and Nvidia sits at the "centre of these transitions", he added.

"We built Nvidia compute platform over three decades...so that when AI arrived Nvidia would be ready," the CEO said, adding, "it has arrived."

Nvidia said revenue totalled USD81.62 billion in the three months to April 26, up 85% from USD44.06 billion a year prior, and ahead of the USD78.62 billion FactSet consensus. Net income more than tripled to USD58.32 billion from USD18.78 billion. Diluted earnings per share improved to USD2.39 from USD0.76.

XTB analyst Kathleen Brooks commented: "Even though Nvidia has posted monster revenues, the share price is experiencing a mild sell-off in post-market trading. Investors have grown accustomed to enormous revenues and forecasts from Nvidia, so tonight's numbers are not moving the dial for investors, especially after the share price rallied 1.5% ahead of the earnings report. The stock is already up 17% YTD and is outpacing gains for the S&P 500 and other Magnificent 7 stocks."

Elsewhere, there was also IPO fever in New York. Space Exploration Technology's filing with US regulators was revealed Wednesday, laying out plans for what could become the largest initial public offering in history as Elon Musk's rocket and satellite company seeks to raise up to USD75 billion on the public markets.

The filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission – the first time SpaceX has publicly disclosed detailed financial information - revealed that the company generated USD18.7 billion in revenue in 2025 and posted an operating loss of USD2.6 billion as it poured money into next-generation rocket development and AI.

ChatGPT maker OpenAI is preparing to file for a stock market listing in the coming days, possibly as early as Friday, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Valued at USD852 billion in a recent funding round, OpenAI is working with bankers at Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley on a draft prospectus it plans to file confidentially with regulators, with the aim of going public as early as September, according to the report.

SoftBank, a major investor in OpenAI, shot up 20% in Tokyo.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 was up 3.5% in late dealings on Thursday. In China, the Shanghai Composite was down 0.1%, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong was 0.5% lower. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney was up 1.4%.

Thursday's global economic calendar has eurozone consumer confidence and trade data, US weekly initial jobless claims figures and a slew of composite PMI reports.

Thursday's local corporate calendar has full-year results from BT and half-year earnings from Sage Group and easyJet.

By Eric Cunha, Alliance News news editor

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