How the banking net zero fantasy ran out of gas August 20, 2025 Over the past year, the world’s biggest banks‘ net zero enthusiasm has quickly and quietly dried up. Top lenders have backtracked, diluted or outright abandoned their environmental, social and governance (ESG) policies. The return of President Donald Trump has been highlighted as a turning point for green finance with firms across the financial industry turning sour [...]
Barclays follows HSBC in ditching net zero banks club August 1, 2025 Barclays has become the second London-based bank to exit the net zero banks club as the financial services industry continues to row back on climate policies. The FTSE 100 giant – which recorded a £1bn profit jump for the second quarter – said on Friday the UN-convened Net Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA) “no longer has [...]
Meta and Microsoft face AI earnings test July 30, 2025 Meta, the owner of Facebook, and Microsoft will post second-quarter earnings after US markets close today (Wednesday 30 July) with analysts focused squarely on how both tech titans are monetising their multibillion-dollar artificial intelligence (AI) bets. Shares in both firms have surged around 20 per cent so far this year, fuelled by investor enthusiasm around [...]
Wall Street banking giants ride tariff rebound to booming revenue July 16, 2025 Wall Street’s banking titans have rounded off second-quarter earnings seasons largely breezing past analyst expectations as revenues boomed on the back of market volatility. The lenders continued a trend from the first-quarter with strong trading and investment banking revenues driving a robust performance. JP Morgan pocketed $45.7bn in revenue, outperforming its $44bn estimate. This came [...]
HSBC: FTSE 100 giant mulls return to office mandate June 18, 2025 Banking juggernaut HSBC is exploring a global mandate that would force employees back into the office for at least three days a week. The lender’s considerations come straight from the top, with chief executive Georges Elhedery meeting with executives across the business to discuss a group-wide return. Discussions are still said to be going, as [...]
Tesla and Apple shares surge as US markets rally on trade deal May 12, 2025 Markets on Wall Street soared on Monday as investors welcomed the trade progress between the US and China. The S&P jumped over 2.6 per cent as markets opened and the Dow Jones 2.41 per cent. Amazon gained over seven per cent and Nike six per cent. The tech-heavy Nasdaq rallied 3.5 per cent. Tech giants [...]
Fed expected to hold interest rates and vex Trump May 7, 2025 The US Federal Reserve will not bring interest rates down until July, Goldman Sachs has predicted, in what may spark a fresh conflict between President Trump and Fed chair Jerome Powell. The world’s most powerful central bank has held back from making interest rate cuts due to a foggy outlook on what a trade war [...]
FTSE 100’s record run ends as pharma stocks slide on new Trump appointment May 7, 2025 The FTSE 100’s record run came to an end on Wednesday as pharma stocks slumped on the back of a controversial US regulatory appointment. The blue-chip index spent the entire session in the red and closed off 0.4 per cent. Drugmakers GSK and Astrazeneca were among the top fallers, at nearly five per cent and [...]
HSBC and Barclays shareholders eye returns as tariffs cloud banks’ reports April 28, 2025 The FTSE 100’s ‘Big Five’ banks are gearing up for first-quarter results season – and shareholders will be eyeing how lenders set the tone for the year ahead. HSBC will kick off reports on Tuesday, followed by Barclays on Wednesday and Lloyds on Thursday. Natwest and Standard Chartered will round off the results week on [...]
Boeing losses narrow as boss says recovery is working April 23, 2025 Boeing’s net losses narrowed in the first quarter of the year in an early sign the US planemaker may turn a corner this year. The firm reported a net loss of $31m (£23.3m) in the three months ended March, down from $355m the year prior. Core losses per share came in at ¢49, well ahead [...]