As it happened – Starmer fights for premiership in make-or-break speech May 11, 2026 Welcome back to the City AM liveblog. Sir Keir Starmer will deliver a speech to the nation this morning as rivals circle whilst his premiership hangs in the balance. The Prime Minister is expected to set out his response to the disastrous local elections, where Labour lost 1,496 seats. The losses came as Nigel Farage’s [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Stocks down on election day; oil back below $100 as Iran deal hangs in balance May 7, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. It’s local election day in the UK and Keir Starmer’s premiership is hanging in the balance as his Labour Party prepares to take a drubbing in council boroughs across the country. Gilt yields rose at their fastest rate earlier this week as the market prepares [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Stocks jump; oil dips below $100 as Trump says Iran deal close May 6, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. Brent crude dipped below $100 at Wednesday lunchtime after Donald Trump has hailed “great progress” towards a “final agreement” with Iran, prompting a rally in the FTSE, Asian markets and Wall Street. In a sudden reversal late last night, President Trump said he will pause [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Gilt yields surge over Starmer fears; Intel, Pinterest shares rocket May 5, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. Gilt yields have risen to their highest rate in nearly thirty years, as markets weigh up the prospect of an ousted Keir Starmer and lurch to a more left-wing government that might follow. The yield on 30-year government bonds rose 11 basis points on Tuesday [...]
Petrol retailers vindicated after Reeves ‘profiteering’ claims May 1, 2026 Petrol retailers have been vindicated of “price gouging”, pouring cold water on the government’s accusations of profiteering from the war in Iran. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) found that higher fuel prices in the UK were caused by the rising cost of oil, rather than by retailers expanding their margins to profit from the [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Stocks jitter as inflation surges; Trump extends ceasefire April 22, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. Inflation has surged this morning follow the outbreak of war in Iran. Fresh figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has shown the consumer price index rose by 3.3 per cent in the 12 months to March 2026. That’s up from three per cent [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Stocks flat as Trump’s deadline looms; Job vacancies shrink; Primark gets spin-off April 21, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. New unemployment figures this morning have showed an unexpected twist where the joblessness rate slipped under the five per cent mark. But this was accompanied by a blow to the market with the number of vacancies fell by an estimate of 29,000 in the three [...]
‘No more Mr Nice Guy’: Oil prices spike as Trump renews Iran power plant threats April 20, 2026 The price of oil has been driven higher by the latest round of escalations in the Middle East renewing fears of a drastic global energy shock. Brent crude – the international benchmark for oil prices – jumped over six per cent on Monday morning to over $96. It follows a weekend of tensions where shipping [...]
FTSE 100 jumps as Strait of Hormuz fully open following ceasefire April 17, 2026 The Iranian regime has reopened the Strait of Hormuz following a ceasefire in the Middle East between numerous warring nations. Tehran’s foreign minister said on Friday afternoon: “In line with the ceasefire in Lebanon, the passage for all commercial vessels through Strait of Hormuz is declared completely open for the remaining period of ceasefire”. Traffic [...]
BP toasts to ‘exceptional’ oil trading after Iran volatility April 14, 2026 Energy giant BP has forecast “exceptional” results in its oil trading division after a period of volatility in prices triggered by the war in the Middle East. The FTSE 100 oil major said upgraded its outlook on Tuesday, which marks a sharp recovery from the “weak” performance reported in the final quarter of 2025. The [...]