UK manufacturing at four-year high but costs rise at pandemic pace Economics The UK manufacturing sector broke to a four-year record in April but the constraints triggered by the Iran war threatened to upend growth prospects. The latest Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) from S&P Global put the industry’s reading at 53.7 – its best since May 2022. This marked its sixth consecutive month above the neutral 50.0 [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Stocks jittery amid oil tensions; Khan woos Anthropic AI Markets Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. Inflation fears have dominated the week and as for the time being, they don’t look to be heading anywhere. The FTSE 100 ended Thursday’s session slipping 1.5 per cent to 10,413.94p as markets battled renewed fears of an energy crisis. Brent crude futures – the international [...]
Inflation eases to three per cent boosting interest rate cut hopes Economics Inflation fell to its lowest level in nearly a year last month, new figures show, giving a further boost to hopes that the Bank of England will cut interest rates in March. The headline rate dipped to 3.0 per cent in January, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), down from 3.4 per cent [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Inflation falls to near year-low; BAE leads stock rally February 18, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. Inflation has fallen to a near year-low this morning hitting its slowest pace since March and fuelling hopes that the Bank of England will take the chop to interest rates next month. New data from the Official for National Statistics showed rose the Consumer Price [...]
Inflation tipped to fall to year-low in boost to interest rate cuts February 16, 2026 Inflation is tipped to fall back to its lowest level for nearly a year in a busy week for UK economic data, with hopes the drop will help accelerate the Bank of England’s rate-cutting cycle. Economists are expecting the Office for National Statistics to show a sharp reprieve in the Consumer Price Index – the [...]
UK inflation faces December bump from travel and food costs January 18, 2026 UK inflation may have edged higher at the end of last year, with Christmas travel and higher duties pushing up prices, economists have warned. Several forecasters expect the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) to have ticked up in December after falling sharply in November. Economists at Pantheon Macroeconomics say they expect inflation to rise to 3.3 [...]
Soaring food costs send shop price inflation higher January 6, 2026 Soaring food costs pushed shop price inflation higher in December, fresh data has revealed, as Brits faced the crunch during the Christmas season. Food inflation reached 3.3 per cent in the final month of 2025, up from three per cent in November, with fresh produce rising to 3.8 per cent from 3.6 per cent previously. [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Inflation eases more than expected ahead of rate decision December 17, 2025 Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. We’ve had the latest inflation data this morning, which has shown the consumer price index (CPI) rose by 3.2 per cent in the 12 months to November 2025. This eased from 3.6 per cent in October 2025. It also beats figures pencilled in by economists, [...]
UK insurers face ‘data quality’ obstacles in AI adoption September 9, 2025 British insurers are facing a bigger AI obstacle than expected, as poor quality data is preventing underwriters from accelerating adoption. A new report by tech firm CI&T, in collaboration with Reuters Events, revealed that nearly three-quarters (72 percent) of underwriters identified fragmented and unstructured data as the primary barrier to AI transformation. The next top [...]
Sabre Insurance: Motor insurance claims inflation continues to hit growth October 22, 2024 Motor insurer Sabre Insurance said it expects annual gross written premium growth to moderate slightly as claims inflation remains elevated.