FTSE 100 Live: Stocks take a dip as Trump’s ceasefire in doubt April 9, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. Hopes for peace in the Middle East are on thin ice with the ceasefire unveiled on Wednesday morning already seemingly in tatters. According to Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s parliament speaker, the US and Israel have already “violated” Iran’s 10-point ceasefire proposal in three ways. And [...]
Close Brothers shares soar as bank ‘well positioned’ for £320m motor finance hit April 8, 2026 Close Brothers has insisted it is “well positioned” to absorb the financial hit from the City watchdog’s motor finance redress scheme but added to speculation another legal battle could be on the horizon. The FTSE 250 lender told markets on Wednesday morning that it estimates the cost of the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) redress scheme [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Blue-chip stocks boom on Trump and Iran ceasefire April 8, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. Markets are in line for a major boom this morning after Donald Trump confirmed a two-week ceasefire with Iran shortly ahead of his latest bomb threat deadline. Trump announced the two-week postponement by stating the US and Iran were “very far along” with a “definitive” [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Stocks dip ahead of Trump’s Iran deadline April 7, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. The London market is set to return from the bank holiday break with a major hangover. Whilst the City enjoyed an Easter break, volatile trading continued with Brent crude – the international benchmark for oil – hovering around the $110 mark after see-sawing between gains [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Dow Jones joins City in red; Oil soars on Iran war fears April 2, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. After a dose of optimism hit markets on Wednesday, that looks to all be eradicated come this morning. In a 19-minute long address to the nation, Donald Trump vowed to “finish the job” in Iran and warned the country would be hit “extremely hard” in [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Stocks boom as Trump signals end to Iran war; Starmer eyes closer ties to EU April 1, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. President Trump has made his clearest indication yet that the war in Iran might soon come to a close, saying the US will “leave” Iran in “two to three weeks” when they are certain the regime will not be able to build a nuclear weapon [...]
Motor finance compensation to ‘to fire starting gun’ on banking M&A March 31, 2026 The financial watchdog’s long-awaited motor finance redress scheme is predicted to “fire the starting gun” on a wave of deals throughout the banking sector. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) launched the final rules for its redress programme on Monday, with the bill for lenders expected to come in at just north of £9bn, down from [...]
US gearing up for ‘weeks of ground operations’ in Iran March 29, 2026 The US military is reportedly gearing up for “weeks of ground operations” in Iran in a move that will destroy optimism garnered over the last week that a peace deal could be on the horizon. Sources at the Pentagon have told the Washington Post that the potential operations would not amount to a full invasion, [...]
FTSE 100 Live: OECD slashes UK growth prospects as inflation set to jump March 26, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. The White House’s Press Secretary has said the US is “very close” to meeting its objectives in the Iran war, though offered no specific timeline on when the conflict could come to a close. But Iran’s foreign minister has said the country has “no intention [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Stocks dip; Reeves give energy update as oil prices jump March 24, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. Oil is back on the rise this morning following a series of mixed messages on Monday that brought forward a day of whiplash for global markets. The trading session started with nosedives into the red as markets digested President Trump’s 48 hour ultimatum on Iran, [...]