Housing stocks drag on FTSE as inflation woes build into Bank of England interest rates call April 28, 2026 Fears about the impact of interest rates on the UK’s struggling economy echoed around the City into this week’s set-piece interest rate meeting at the Bank of England. A trio of Tuesday trading updates from London-listed firms with direct exposure to the housing market revealed rising costs. The insight reverberated across an industry which depends on affordable mortgages [...]
Government borrowing costs soar as Iran war drags on April 28, 2026 The government’s borrowing costs have risen to their joint highest level since the 2008 financial crisis, after a sharp jump in the oil price prompted a sell-off in UK debt because of concerns over inflation. The yield on the 10-year gilt – the main benchmark for any government’s long-term ability to borrow – climbed back [...]
‘Stuff of nightmares’: Hold interest rates, City AM Shadow MPC says April 28, 2026 Interest rates should be left unchanged in April but the future path of monetary policy could be unclear, City AM’s Shadow Monetary Policy Committee has suggested. A group of City economists and academics has called for interest rates to be left at 3.75 per cent on Thursday, citing the risk of higher inflation due to [...]
Bank of England dissenters expected to back interest rate hikes April 27, 2026 Economists have suggested that at least two members of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) could vote for interest rates to be hiked later this week. Analysts at JP Morgan, BNP Paribas and Goldman Sachs have predicted that hawkish policymakers will push back against leaving interest rates unchanged. The Bank’s chief economist Huw [...]
FTSE 100 banks £16bn payday to face economic reality check April 27, 2026 Provisions for sour loans threaten to take a bite out of profit growth as Barclays kicks off FTSE 100 banks earnings season next week whilst economic tensions loom over the wider financial industry. UK banks will give a snapshot of the gathering tensions in the economy next week as the nation’s top lenders update the [...]
‘Outlook uncertainty’: Interest rates to be left unchanged in crunch decision April 24, 2026 The Bank of England is set to leave interest rates unchanged at a highly-anticipated meeting on Thursday as investors are looking for further guidance on the impact of the Iran war on the UK economy. Markets have all but priced in a hold at the Monetary Policy Committee’s next meeting, which would leave interest rates [...]
‘There’s a lot of risk out there’ – Bank of England warns of market ‘adjustment’ April 24, 2026 A top Bank of England official has warned that global markets could fall even further with current share prices not reflecting the economic risks at play. Sarah Breeden, the Bank’s deputy governor for financial stability, said: “There’s a lot of risk out there and yet asset prices are at all-time highs. “We expect there will [...]
Barclays sweetens mortgage deals as interest rate decision takes focus April 22, 2026 Barclays has become the latest bank to wade into the flurry of mortgage rate cuts as lenders turn their attention to next week’s interest rates decision. The FTSE 100 giant cut rates across more than 20 mortgage products from Wednesday morning. It follows on from a slew of reductions from the likes of HSBC UK, [...]
War propels UK inflation in new risk for interest rate hikes April 22, 2026 Inflation sped up in March, official data has revealed, giving the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee a headache as policymakers mull over whether to raise interest rates. Inflation jumped to 3.3 per cent last month as President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu’s war on Iran led to critical trade disruption across the Strait of [...]
Ministers urge cyber crackdown as Anthropic AI fears grow April 20, 2026 Ministers have ramped up pressure on UK businesses to strengthen their cyber defences amid concerns that the next generation of AI could supercharge hacking threats. In a new push led by cyber minister Baroness Lloyd of Effra, nearly 200 business leaders were told to sign a new “cyber resilience pledge”, as fears mount that powerful [...]