European Shares Poised For Gap-up Opening As US-Iran Tensions Ease

(RTTNews) - European shares may see a strong gap-up opening on Monday amid easing geopolitical tensions and ahead of a slew of central bank meetings due this week.

U.S. stock futures climbed after U.S. President Donald Trump announced than an agreement had been reached to end the war with Iran.

"Let the oil flow!" Trump exclaimed on Sunday and declared that the "great deal" which is "now complete" would bring "peace and security to the whole region."

U.S. Vice President JD Vance said that Iran never processing a nuclear weapon was "build into this agreement" and that the U.S. will be able to verify compliance.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi confirmed that a deal had been reached and said the text would be released following a signing ceremony in Switzerland on Friday.

Iran's Supreme National Security Council stated that "final negotiations will be postponed until after the implementation of the other party's commitments under the memorandum."

The specific terms of the agreement remain unknown and it is learnt that many issues remain unresolved.

Analysts warn that the simmering conflict between Israel and Lebanon could also still lead to a breakdown of talks.

According to Axios, the MoU is expected to trigger a new 60-day negotiating period to address disputes over Iran's nuclear program, sanctions relief, regional security, and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

Asian markets rallied and gold prices were up more than 2 percent at $4,329 an ounce on eased inflation and rate hike worries.

Central banks in the U.S., U.K., Japan, Australia, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway and Russia will be meeting this week to announce their monetary policy decisions.

The Federal Reserve is certain to stay on hold at Chair Kevin Warsh's debut meeting, with traders likely to scrutinize the FOMC policy statement, economic projections and the press conference for fresh insights to whether policymakers signal rate cuts despite prevailing inflationary pressures.

The Bank of England is also expected to keep rates steady, but the Bank of Japan is poised to raise interest rates to a 31-year high.

The dollar weakened, U.S. Treasury yields fell and Brent crude futures slumped nearly 4 percent to below $84 a barrel following the U.S.-Iran deal announcement.

On Friday, U.S. stocks closed higher, driven by optimism for a Middle East peace deal and SpaceX's highly anticipated public debut.

After Iranian media reported alleged terms of a possible ceasefire agreement, Trump claimed the leaked terms of the deal have "NOTHING to do with the terms that were agreed to, in writing," adding that there is no such thing as dealing in good faith with them.

His remarks came after IRNA published what is described as seven main points of the deal indicating virtually no compromise from Iran on key issues.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi, meanwhile, stated that an "Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding" towards a ceasefire had "never been closer."

The Dow climbed 0.7 percent, the S&P 500 gained half a percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite edged up by 0.3 percent.

European stocks rose sharply on Friday after Trump called off a previously announced attack on Iran and said a peace deal could be finalized in Europe over the weekend.

The pan-European STOXX 600 soared 1.9 percent. While the German DAX and France's CAC 40 both surged around 1.8 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 added 1.6 percent.