European stock indices declined at the start of trading on Thursday, May 21, amid sharp fluctuations in oil prices, as investors awaited developments related to the Iran war.
In trading, the Stoxx 600 index fell 0.2% to 619 points.
Germany’s DAX fell 0.3% to 24,666 points, Britain’s FTSE dropped 0.4% to 10,389 points, and France’s CAC declined 0.2% to 8,102 points.
US President Donald Trump stated on Wednesday that Washington is in the final stages of negotiations with Iran.
Oil prices reacted quickly to the news and fell by more than 5% at the close of yesterday's session, before correcting their course and rising today, Thursday.
The past few hours have seen a significant increase in the likelihood that US President Donald Trump will offer concessions to Iran regarding sanctions on oil exports and the release of frozen funds, according to the forecasting market, Polymarket.
Trump had stated earlier this week that he had called off a new military attack on Iran to give diplomacy more time at the request of Arab allies.
Eurozone Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) data is due to be released later today.
