European shares registered some gains on Thursday, buoyed by shining oil prices after Iran welcomed a deal in Doha to cap production at the January levels. Doubts remain over the future of this deal however, and some don't believe that Iran would just abandon its plan for production increases after the lifting on international sanctions, but oil traders are taking their time to celebrate a little nonetheless.
Brent crude futures jumped more than 80 cents, or 2.43% to trade above the $35 level at $35.30 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediary (WTI) crude futures advanced 82 cents, or 2.61% to hover around $31.47 a barrel.
European shares marched on, with the pan-European FTSEurofirst index climbing to a two-week high at 1,303, up 0.64% on the day, while Germany's DAX added 111 points, or 1.16% to 9,485, vastly outperforming the wider European markets. On the contrary of that, Britain's FTSE index tumbled 0.80% to 5,981, on Brexit fears as worries mount over the kingdom's future in Europe.
Wall Street opened with mixed results, as the Dow Jones rose 12 points, or nearly 0.1%, supported by a rally in IBM shares, while NASDAQ Composite lost four points, or 0.1% to trade at 4,528. S&P 500 gave up three points, or 0.13% to hover around 1,924.
Precious metal prices extended their losses today as risk sentiment grew stronger in the markets, with gold futures sliding a dollar and a half, or 0.12% to $1,210 an ounce, while silver futures made larger losses, down four cents, or 0.33% to trade at $15.33 an ounce.