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 [...]
UK government borrowing overshoots expectations in November December 19, 2025 UK government borrowing exceeded expectations in November but still fell year-on-year after tax receipts surged following Rachel Reeves’ first Autumn Budget. The latest release from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed public sector borrowing topped £11.7bn in November. City economists expected government borrowing to come in at £10.2bn over the month. Despite this, the [...]
FTSE 100 Live: OBR chiefs face MP grilling; Food inflation slows December 2, 2025 Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) admitted its “worst failure in the 15-year history” of the fiscal watchdog on Monday. This morning, from 10am, two of its remaining spokespeople will be facing a grilling from the Treasury select committee of MPs. The sensational leak of [...]
Banks’ bond market headache spells trouble for FTSE 100 September 4, 2025 The frenzy in the bond market spells trouble for banking stocks and could create broader issues for the FTSE 100. Bond markets have had a tumultuous week, with the UK’s 30-year gilt yields hitting a 27-year high. This was triggered by a global sell-off, as well as political unease stemming from a Downing Street reshuffle [...]
‘Weak fiscal position’ pushes UK borrowing costs to 27-year high August 18, 2025 Government borrowing costs have jumped over the past two weeks, flashing warning signs for Chancellor Rachel Reeves. The 30-year gilt yield hit 5.57 per cent on Friday before falling back to stick around 5.54 per cent when trading began on Monday. Gilt yields are higher than levels seen in April after President Trump announced sweeping [...]
Economists urge fiscal discipline after ‘rollercoaster’ week for bond market July 4, 2025 Economists have called on Chancellor Rachel Reeves to exercise fiscal discipline after a “rollercoaster” week in the bond market exposed the precarity of the government’s finances. Yields on 10-year gilts briefly rose more than 20 basis points, the highest intraday rise since the ill-fated Liz Truss minibudget in 2022, after Reeves appeared distraught in the [...]
Gilt yields spike as doubt grows over future of Rachel Reeves July 2, 2025 Gilt yields spiked shortly after Keir Starmer refused to confirm whether Rachel Reeves would remain as Chancellor in an eventful PMQs during which she appeared visibly upset. The prime minister defended the government’s U-turn on the welfare bill, which could now prevent Labour from making £4.8bn savings baked into the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR)’s [...]
Spending Review: Gilt yields dip in relief for Rachel Reeves June 11, 2025 Gilt yields fell in the minutes following the publication of the government’s Spending Review, paring back earlier rises and raising hopes the Chancellor had placated markets over her splurge on infrastructure, energy and healthcare spending. The 10-year UK government bond yield nudged down from 4.61 per cent to 4.55 per cent after the Spending Review [...]
Reeves’ risky borrowing policies prompt fresh tax hike fears May 20, 2025 Tax hike fears are gathering pace as rising borrowing costs are set to wipe out around half of Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ small £9.9bn headroom, a leading economics consultancy has warned. Reeves made around £14bn in spending cuts at her Spring Statement two months ago but left herself with one of the slimmest fiscal buffers on [...]
Spring Statement 2025: Markets ‘shrug off’ speech as gilt sales revised lower March 26, 2025 The Debt Management Office (DMO) said it was planning £299bn of gilt sales in 2025 to 2026, slightly below the £302bn initially expected despite the government’s borrowing plans. However, this still marked the most extensive package since the pandemic. The DMO said it would issue the smallest selection of long-maturity gilts in its 27-year history [...]