Donald Trump cranked up the tension in the Ukraine war by reaching agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin on diesel supplies.
The US president said he would allow Moscow to “immediately release” 300,00 tonnes of diesel into the global market, followed by 500,000 tonnes in November and another million afterwards.
An envoy to Putin welcomed the deal, but Ukraine’s President Zelensky said any easing of sanctions on Russia played into Moscow’s hands and would prolong the war amid growing assaults on Kyiv.
Trump’s political opponents will see it as a cynical move ahead of the mid-term elections, particularly as he boasted on Truth Social that US consumers will benefit.
“Diesel Prices for Americans and, indeed, the World, will be COMING DOWN, IN RECORD NUMBERS, AND FAST!” Trump wrote.
Earlier, he helped stem a global market sell-off after saying he would not attack Iran before the elections, having threatened a new bombardment.
His comments underpinned the FTSE 100 which closed 1.1% higher at 10,552.05, and relieved the stressed bond markets, though Brent crude continued to rise, up 0.2% at $104.45 a barrel.
In another message on Truth Social, Trump said: “We are having productive discussions with the Islamic Republic of Iran.
“I want to make it clear to everybody that, while Iran is in very bad condition, both Economically and Militarily, and while the Blockade will remain in full force and effect, with oil flowing in record numbers of barrels through the Hormuz Strait (22 Million Barrels, last night alone, with not one barrel coming from, or going to, Iran!), we will not be attacking Iran at any time prior to the Midterm Elections to be held in the United States on November 3rd.”
The uptick was well-timed for the biggest flotation in London for five years, as Airtel Money, the mobile payments business spun out of the FTSE 100 telecommunications group Airtel Africa made its debut.
Shares in Airtel Money, which trades as Airtel Mobile Commerce, initially rose to 200p from a launch price of 196p in conditional trading, before closing lower at 184.26p.
Despite a subdued opening day of trading, the launch was among the top ten most popular ever for retail investors, according to data from AJ Bell, based on the number of customer orders for London IPOs.
The flotation will be watched as a barometer for the health of the City, which has suffered from a dearth of IPOs. There were only seven listings in London in the first half of this year, which raised £577m. Most of that came from the £511m raised by the flotation of Uzbekistan’s national investment fund.
Elsewhere, the BRC-Sensormatic retail footfall monitor showed footfall on high streets declined 3% year-on-year, having dropped 3.1% in August, while retail parks saw a 1.7% fall in September, having risen 1% the month before. Footfall at shopping centres was down 3.5% last month following a 0.5% retreat in August.
Footfall fell 0.7% in Scotland, 3% in Wales and 3.4% in England. North Ireland bucked the trend with a 2.1% jump.
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