Stocks flat as Trump’s ceasefire deadline looms

Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog.

Markets are gearing up to slip once more as the end of the temporary ceasefire in the Middle East draws nearer.

The temporary suspension of hostilities is set to end on Wednesday – two weeks after Donald Trump announced a pause in strikes.

Trump was gearing up to “obliterate” Iranian power plants weeks back and has since returned to those threats following frustrations with the progress of peace talks.

The first round of talks, where Vice-President JD Vance led a delegation is Islamabad in Pakistan, came up short after 21 hours of discussion.

Vance said the US “could not get to a situation where the Iranians were willing to accept our terms”. But Iran’s foreign ministry countered that Washington needed to refrain from “excessive demands and unlawful requests”.

Oil prices have remained elevated as a final agreement continued to be out of grip leading to more heightened fears of economic turmoil.

But Trump has pushed back, stating a deal with happen “relatively quickly” and denied any “pressure” to make a deal.

“THIS IS NOT TRUE!” the President posted on Truth Social.

This morning we’re also set for another snapshot of economic data on the UK ahead of the war in Iran with unemployment figures.

We’ll be bringing you the latest on this and more.

Here’s a few of our top headlines this morning: