LIVE MARKETS-Europe before the bell: peace deal hopes, again

Yet, Brent crude futures LCOc1 are down 5.4% on the day to $83.18 a barrel, and European stock market futures are pointing to a positive open.

Euro STOXX 50 futures STXEc1 are up 0.7%, DAX futures FDXc1 are 0.9% higher and CAC futures FCEc1 are up 0.6%. FTSE futures FFIc1 are meanwhile a bit more muted, but still 0.2% higher.

With it being Monday, the earnings and corporate news side is looking a little calmer.

Even so there are still a good few individual stocks to keep an eye on, including AstraZeneca Plc AZN.L, which reportedly held preliminary discussions with Bristol Myers Squibb BMY.N about a possible combination that would create one of the world's biggest pharmaceutical companies with a combined value of nearly $400 billion.

European markets look set to start August, and the week, with a move higher as hopes for a peace deal grew once again after U.S. President Donald Trump said talks with Iran will take place Monday. He had earlier called off an imminent attack on Iran to reach a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and resolve the impasse over Tehran's nuclear capabilities.

Of course, deal hopes have come and gone and come back and gone again many times in the past few months. And details about the negotiations are sparse, with Trump not providing details about where they would take place or who would be involved.