Asian markets surge after Takaichi secures historic election victory February 9, 2026 Japanese stocks surged to a record high on Monday, while wider Asian markets also experienced a boost, after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s Liberal Democratic Party secured a historic election victory. The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) secured 316 out of 465 seats in Sunday’s election, winning a two-thirds super majority. In response, the Nikkei 225 rocketed [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Natwest shares fall after deal; Political jitters in bond market February 9, 2026 Good morning and welcome to the City AM liveblog. Markets will have a lot to catch up on this morning after the latest escalation in political dramas over the weekend. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s chief of staff announced his exit from government amid mounting pressure over the appointment of Peter Mandelson to US ambassador. [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Starmer unease rattles markets; Big tech sell-off February 6, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. Speculation over Keir Starmer’s future has unleashed a fresh round of market unease as investors dumped the pound, UK equities and long-dated government bonds amid rising political uncertainty. The gulf in price between the UK’s short- and long-term debt – known as the yield curve – reached [...]
Bank of England raises alarm on unemployment as interest rates unchanged February 5, 2026 The Bank of England has held interest rates but policymakers warned that the spiralling unemployment rate and weak growth was weighing down on price growth. In its decision on Thursday, the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee voted 5-4 to leave interest rates at 3.75 per cent. But economists warned that unemployment could jump higher over the [...]
Bank of England Live: Interest rates held in narrow 5-4 call February 5, 2026 Good morning and welcome to the City AM liveblog. The Bank of England’s monetary committee has decided to hold rates in its first meet of the year. Markets – and City AM‘s own Shadow MPC – had placed their bets on a hold as the Bank continues its gradual chop to the base rate. In [...]
Nick Train’s Finsbury fund slides further as AI triggers jitters February 4, 2026 Nick Train’s Finsbury Growth and Income Trust (FGIT) has endured another torrid few days after being caught up in the sell-off in data and software stocks. The trust is heavily exposed to London’s leading listed software companies, all of which have faced heavy pressure since the launch of Anthropic’s legal productivity tool on Monday. At [...]
Watchdog warns on ‘fire sale dynamics’ risk in repo market February 4, 2026 The global financial watchdog has urged regulators to cast a closer eye over the ways in which leveraged trades in the short-term repo market could amplify financial stability risks worldwide. Regulators at the Financial Stability Board (FSB) are particularly concerned that leveraged investors might be forced to dump their assets in the event of a [...]
LSEG, Sage, Rightmove shares fall as Anthropic AI rattles markets February 4, 2026 Shares in global software giants tumbled again on Wednesday morning as the latest AI innovation from Anthropic rattled global markets. The London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) extended Tuesday’s losses falling near two per cent in early trading to lows of 6,774.00p before clawing back some gains. Meanwhile Rightmove led the index’s fallers, with a slump [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Beazley seals $15bn Zurich deal, Santander in $12bn takeover February 4, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. Shares in Europe’s biggest data, publishing and legal software groups slumped on Tuesday after AI giant Anthropic unveiled a new tool aimed directly at in-house lawyers. The move rattled investors who had long viewed the sector as an AI winner. In London, Relx fell close [...]
Exclusive: Starling’s top investor withdraws support for London IPO February 4, 2026 Starling’s elusive billionaire backer has gone cold on his ambition for the digital bank to list in London, City AM can reveal, in a move that will heighten fears of the fintech heading to New York for its highly-anticipated IPO. Harald McPike had lobbied for the group to launch its initial public offering in London [...]