FTSE 100 Live: Stocks jitter as inflation surges; Trump extends ceasefire

Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog.

Inflation has surged this morning follow the outbreak of war in Iran.

Fresh figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has shown the consumer price index rose by 3.3 per cent in the 12 months to March 2026. That’s up from three per cent in the 12 months to February.

But the raised jitters around the price impact of the war does come after Donald Trump said he will extend the ceasefire with Iran – originally due to expire today – at the request of Pakistan.

The President posted on Truth Social last night that the suspension of hostilities will remain in place, along with the US’ blockade on the Strait of Hormuz, until “leaders and representatives can come up with a unified proposal”

It follows just a fortnight ago the President held off on bombing Iranian power plants as hopes of peace talks emerged.

But talks have continued to fall short. On Tuesday, Vice President JD Vance was expected to depart to Pakistan for another round of talks, but this was put on hold after Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman told the BBC that it had not yet made a decision for whether an Iranian delegation will travel to Islamabad.

Trump was also asked if he would extend the ceasefire in Iran ahead of his Truth Social post to which he responded: “I don’t want to do that”.

He added: “I expect to be bombing ’cause that would be a better attitude.”

Two weeks ago as the ceasefire deadline drew nearer Trump warned a “whole civilisation will die tonight” as uncertainty persisted whether peace would be reached.

We’ll be bringing you the latest updates on this and more.

Here’s a few of our top headlines this morning

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