European markets rally as Trump and EU ink trade deal July 28, 2025 Markets across Europe opened in the green on Monday morning after President Donald Trump sealed a trade deal with the EU after months of discussion. The Cac 40 in Paris was up over one per cent and Germany’s DAX and Amsterdam’s AEX nearly one per cent. In London, the FTSE 100 jumped over 0.4 per [...]
Reeves warned pensions tax raid could cost UK in the long run July 21, 2025 City platform Hargreaves Lansdown has warned Rachel Reeves that “tinkering” with the pension tax relief could cost the UK in the long run and undermine the government’s fresh attempts to get workers to save more into retirement. The return of the Pensions Commission, which will report its findings on the adequacy of retirement savings in [...]
FTSE 100 smashes intra day high as investors call Trump’s bluff July 10, 2025 The FTSE 100 surpassed its all-time high on Thursday with investors unfazed by the latest barrage of trade threats from President Donald Trump. The UK’s flagship index rallied over one per cent in morning trading to over 8,970. This topped a previous intra-day record of 8,908.82 set on March 3. Miners pioneered Thursday’s jump with [...]
Government’s £4.4bn gain on ‘shares tax’ puts investors on edge June 20, 2025 Investors have stepped in to provide the government with a cheap fix after receipts from the ‘share tax’ grew to £4.4bn amid fears it was harming London’s capital markets. Rachel Reeves has spoken about her desire to boost the UK’s retail investment culture as part of her drive to deliver higher growth and yield more [...]
TACO investors: Don’t bet too much on Trump-always-chickens-out trade June 18, 2025 Investors betting on Trump climbing down may be too optimistic, writes Hargreaves Lansdown's Susannah Streeter in today's Notebook.
FTSE 100 seals record high after shaking off investor nerves June 12, 2025 The FTSE 100 finally sealed a new record closing high on Thursday after falling a whisker short the previous two trading sessions. The UK’s flagship index rose 0.2 per cent to – besting March’s record of 8,871.31. The index also beat its previous intraday high after hitting 8,892.36 in afternoon trading. Endeavour mining topped the [...]
Reeves’ spending spree could open £20bn gap – which taxes will rise? June 12, 2025 Rachel Reeves splashed the taxpayer cash in her inaugural Spending Review, raising expectations the Chancellor may be coming back for more tax revenue in the Autumn if her growth ambitions are not met. Reeves is set to hand out an extra £190bn in government spending over the course of the parliament, in what she described [...]
FTSE 100 narrowly misses record high after housebuilders rally June 10, 2025 The FTSE 100 closed just short of a record high on Tuesday after fresh economic data fuelled hopes of further interest rate cuts from the Bank of England. The UK’s flagship market inched up 0.24 per cent to 8853.08p after a rally from homebuilders. This narrowly missed March’s record close of 8,871.31p. Builders Persimmon and [...]
Majority of Brits don’t understand investment funds, survey finds June 4, 2025 A majority of Brits lack knowledge of key financial and investment terms, a new study from Hargreaves Lansdown has found, underscoring the scale of the challenge to encourage more people to invest for the long term. Only 37 per cent of Brits could correctly identify an investment fund, according to a survey of 2,000 people [...]
The cheapest Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP) providers May 30, 2025 High earners are increasingly contributing £60,000 and above to their Hargreaves Lansdown Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP), new data shows. The number of people making contributions of exactly £60,000 – the full allowance – was up 12 per cent in the last tax year. The number of people making SIPP contributions over the annual allowance was [...]