Rentokil shares slide almost 20 per cent as demand weakens in North America July 30, 2026 Pest control giant Rentokil’s share price slid 17 per cent on Thursday morning following a slow appetite from the North American residential market. The FTSE 100 firm’s shares tumbled on market open from 443.30p to 398.60p, despite reporting a 6.7 per cent rise in group revenue for the first six months of the year to [...]
As it happened: Stocks reach all-time high; US fires back at ‘surprise’ Iran attacks July 29, 2026 Welcome back to the City AM FTSE 100 liveblog. It’s Wednesday and the UK’s blue-chip index surged in early trading to reach an all-time high, brushing off the latest outbreak of attacks in the Middle East. The FTSE 100 hit 10,945 on the market open, eclipsing the previous intraday record of 10,934, achieved in February on the [...]
Ocado lets Marks & Spencer off hook in £190m payout dispute July 28, 2026 Ocado has quietly let Marks & Spencer off the hook in a long-running £190m dispute over its home delivery joint venture. FTSE-250 Ocado has dropped its pursuit of the payout from M&S, which it believed it was owed as part of the business they run together, City AM understands. The two companies took a 50-50 [...]
As it happened: Stocks jump as oil drops; Unilever shares soar on decade-best sales July 28, 2026 Welcome back to the City AM FTSE 100 liveblog. It’s Tuesday and the UK’s blue-chip index has made strong gains following a peaky start to the day. The markets took a boost yesterday after oil dropped back after reaching two-month highs of more than $100 per barrel last week when the Iran backed-Houthis took responsibility for tanker [...]
As it happened: Stocks rise; oil falls after Trump pauses Iran strikes July 27, 2026 Welcome back to the City AM FTSE 100 liveblog. It’s Monday and the FTSE 100 has made a positive start to the week, gaining more than 70 points on the market open after oil prices began to fall from last week’s two-month highs. Brent crude, the international benchmark for oil prices, slipped to $90.58 in early trading [...]
Brits dodge the high street as heatwave boosts online shopping July 24, 2026 Retail sales jumped in June as the heatwave and heavy discounting drove Brits towards online shopping. The volume of retail sales jumped by one per cent in June, having slowed slightly from 1.2 per cent growth in May, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Online shopping grew to the largest proportion of total [...]
As it happened: Stocks jump as oil drops below $100; Trump in tariff blitz July 24, 2026 Welcome back to the City AM FTSE 100 liveblog. Stocks jumped on Friday after oil eased back after reaching two-month highs on Thursday. The benchmark price of Brent crude oil slipped 4.1 per cent on Friday to $96.63 per barrel. Prices had surged to $100 following attacks by the Houthis, an Iran-backed militia based in Yemen, on [...]
Social media ban driving ‘screen-free’ sales, The Works boss says July 23, 2026 The boss of discount retailer The Works has said the government’s crackdown on social media usage has driven customers towards the “screen-free activities” offered in his stores. Gavin Peck, chief executive of the Aim-listed retailer, believes Labour’s incoming social media ban has pushed up demand among parents for analogue activities for their children and was [...]
Tesco Mobile breaches £600m debt facility after reporting failure July 23, 2026 The UK’s biggest virtual mobile network operator has breached the terms of its debt facility after a reporting shortfall, City AM can reveal. Tesco Mobile, which has more than 5m customers and is owned by Virgin Media O2 and Tesco, identified a breach in covenants in the funding agreement it has with the Royal Bank [...]
Mike Ashley’s Frasers ups stake in Hugo Boss as takeover pressure mounts July 21, 2026 Frasers Group has pushed its stake in Hugo Boss above the threshold forcing it to make an offer for the whole firm, piling pressure on the German fashion house to accept its £1.7bn bid. The fashion group, which owns Sports Direct and Flannels, said on Tuesday that it had bought 2.5m new shares in Hugo [...]