FTSE 100 Live: Stocks slide despite tech boost; Oil falls

Markets are dealing with a double dose of pressures to start of the new week as investors brace for a crucial earnings season in the artificial sector, whilst an increase of supply on the oil market weighs on prices.

Over in Asia, stock markets slipped following a week of push-and-pull in tech stocks. The looming earnings season will come as investors weigh up the mammoth $725bn set aside for the industry by Alphabet, Amazon, Meta and Microsoft alone.

South Korea’s Kospi was over one per cent, but pulled back to a 0.5 per cent dip on Monday. This comes ahead of the world’s largest memory chipmaker by sales, Samsung, posting its quarterly profit. It is expected to record an operating profit of $56.35bn for the three months to June, according to LSEG estimates. Still, Samsung finished the trading session 10 per cent higher as investors braced for the earnings bonanza.

Meanwhile, Japan’s Nikkei tumbled 0.2 per cent.

The jitters across the tech market were accompanied by some relief in oil after the group of oil production nations – OPEC+ – agreed to hike output targets to 188,000 barrels per day from August. This followed increases in June and July and sent the international benchmark for oil prices, Brent crude, 0.5 per cent lower to a fourth-month low of $71.19 per barrel.

Despite a lack of new developments in the fragile US-Iran peace agreement, relief has continued to come to the oil market, helping lift inflationary pressures on global economies. Ships have also began passing through the Strait of Hormuz – which transported a fifth of global oil supply prior to the break-out of war in February – with 160 vessels crossing the narrow waterway between Monday and Saturday last week.

We’ll be bringing you all the latest news and analysis.