Commodities: Geopolitical tensions push crude futures higher

Related to the latter, at the weekend analysts at Barclays Research pointed out the presence of "significant" upside risks to oil prices in the fourth quarter of 2018, estimating that Iranian output would be reduced by roughly 700,000 barrels a day by the second quarter of 2019.

Nevertheless, in the opinion of a panel of experts brought together by the investment bank, "such a sizable disruption could conceivably lead to a price effect so large that the US government may ease the way in which the sanctions are applied in the second and third six-month rounds."

Be that as it may, by 2000 BST, front month Brent crude oil futures for next month delivery were 0.77% higher to $74.86 a barrel on the ICE.

Meanwhile, on NYMEX, WTI for prompt month delivery was up by 1.88% at $69.98 a barrel on the back of speculation that Canadian outfit Suncor's Syncrude oil-sands facility might take longer to return online after being crippled by a power outage.

Grains were also in demand, with September wheat on CBoT jumping 3.02% to $5.4650 a bushel, alongside a rise of 1.33% to $3.8125 a bushel for similarly-dated contracts on wheat.

From a bird's eye view, the US dollar spot index was down by 0.37% to 94.316 and the Bloomberg commodity index 0.64% higher to 85.38.