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FTSE down but off lows as oil price drops amid Iran war peace talks hope

The FTSE 100 closed down 31.69 points (0.3%) at 10,733.00, well above its earlier low, as Brent fell from an intraday high of 111.20 US dollars to 106.65 dollars a barrel after an unconfirmed report that Qatar and Pakistan had proposed reviving US-Iran talks. European stocks stayed under pressure from unrest in France, with the Cac 40 down 0.4% and the Dax 40 down 0.1%, while Wall Street rose ahead of the tech reporting season. The US 10-year Treasury yield eased to 5.11%. In the UK, the unemployment rate unexpectedly fell to 4.7% in the three months to August, payrolled employees rose by 13,000 in September, and average earnings growth cooled to 3.7%, below the 3.8% consensus. JPMorgan said a Bank of England rate hike “is not in doubt,” and the pound rose to 1.3376 US dollars.

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