European Shares Seen Up Amid Reported US-Iran Peace Talks

(RTTNews) - European stocks look set to extend gains from the previous session on Wednesday as hopes grew for a de-escalation in the Iran conflict.

Oil prices were down more than 4 percent in Asian trade after U.S. President Donald Trump said that peace negotiations with representatives from Iran were ongoing and "they want to make a deal so badly"- a claim disputed by Iranian officials.

According to a New York Times report, the United States has sent Iran a 15-point plan to end the war in the Middle East.

Israel's Channel 12 revealed that Washington was pursuing a one-month ceasefire under a mechanism being developed by Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.

Axios said that the U.S. and a group of regional mediators are discussing the possibility of holding high-level peace talks with Iran as soon as Thursday, but they're still waiting for a response from Tehran.

As diplomatic efforts gather pace, Israel launched a wave of strikes targeting infrastructure across Tehran. Kuwait and Saudi Arabia said they had repelled fresh drone attacks.

According to Iranian state television, Iran's Revolutionary Guards have fired missiles at Israel as well as military bases hosting U.S. forces in Kuwait, Jordan and Bahrain.

Asian markets were broadly higher and U.S. equity futures surged amid hopes of potential peace talks between the United States and Iran.

Gold jumped more than 2 percent to $4,568 an ounce, driven by a softer dollar and easing bond yields.

U.S. stocks ended lower in volatile trading overnight as benchmark Brent crude futures surged back above $100 a barrel and bonds fell amid lingering uncertainty over tensions in the Middle East.

After Iran denied that it had engaged in negotiations with the United States, President Trump reiterated that top U.S. negotiators and their Iranian counterparts have been engaged in "very, very strong talks," adding that Iran gave him a "very big present" as a gesture of good faith in talks. He pointed out that it was connected to the Strait of Hormuz flows.

In contrast, media reports claimed that Gulf Arab neighbors are considering joining the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran and that the U.S. plans to deploy approximately 3,000 troops to the Middle East to support a war against Iran.

Additionally, it was reported that Iran's military has started charging transit fees on some commercial vessels passing the Strait of Hormuz, establishing an informal toll on the world's most important waterway.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gave up 0.8 percent, the S&P 500 dipped 0.4 percent and the Dow eased 0.2 percent.

European stocks fluctuated before closing mostly higher on Tuesday after the release of weak PMI data from the region.

The pan European Stoxx 600 gained 0.4 percent. The German DAX finished marginally lower, while France's CAC 40 edged up by 0.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 added 0.7 percent.