Tech stocks regain safe haven status amid Iran ceasefire April 9, 2026 American tech stocks have reasserted their role as a market safe haven, as easing tensions between Washington and Tehran trigger a sharp rebound across beaten-down AI and software names. A two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran, alongside a potential reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, has already sparked a relief rally. The Nasdaq jumped [...]
Space stocks lift off as investors eye Space X moment April 8, 2026 Retail investors are increasingly backing the space economy, with new data showing the sector moving to a more established part of long-term portfolios. Figures from Hargreaves Lansdown show Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP) investors remained broadly bullish through the first quarter of the year, despite a wobble in March following tensions in the Middle East. Among the [...]
British firm Stellanor snaps up data centre amid scramble for AI capacity April 8, 2026 Stellanor Datacenters has expanded its UK footprint with the acquisition of a specialist facility from Imagination Technologies, as demand for AI infrastructure continues to surge. The deal, structured as a ‘sale-and-service-back’ agreement, will see Imagination remain in the Hemel Hempstead site as a customer, while Stellanor takes ownership and integrates the facility into its growing [...]
Blackstone swoops on Senior in £1.3bn aerospace supply chain play April 7, 2026 Manufacturing giant Senior has agreed to a £1.3bn takeover by a consortium backed by Blackstone and Tinicum, marking the latest London-listed industrial firm to be taken private as overseas buyers target UK assets. The recommended all-cash offer values the FTSE 250 engineer at £1.28bn, with an implied enterprise value of roughly £1.4bn, the companies told [...]
Broadcom tightens grip on AI infrastructure with Anthropic, Google deal April 7, 2026 Broadcom’s latest agreement with Anthropic and Google strengthens the chipmaker’s position as one of the key firms sitting underneath the AI boom, as AI firms race to lock in even larger amounts of compute. Under the new arrangement, Anthropic will have access to multiple gigawatts of Google tensor processing unit (TPU) capacity from 2027, while [...]
US AI firms team up to avoid another Deepseek moment April 7, 2026 US artificial intelligence (AI) heavyweights are together stepping up to protect their commercial edge, as Chinese rivals increasingly chip away at their pricing power. Google, Anthropic and OpenAI have begun sharing information on rivals trying to replicate their models through distillation, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday. The united effort has been coordinated through an industry non-profit, [...]
Barclays reverses branch cuts as bank managers return to high street April 4, 2026 Barclays is planning to expand its high street presence and revive the “bank manager” role after years of rapid branch closures. The bank’s UK chief executive Vim Maru told the Times on Saturday that Barclays would increase its branch network beyond its current 206 sites, having already paused a programme that saw it shut around [...]
OpenAI reshuffles leadership as IPO plans loom April 4, 2026 OpenAI is reshaping its leadership team as it prepares for its next phase of growth, with senior executives moving roles and others stepping back. The company confirmed that longtime chief operating officer Brad Lightcap will transition into a new role focused on special projects, reporting directly to chief executive Sam Altman. In the position, Lightcap [...]
Tories brace for heavy losses as Badenoch outpolls rivals April 4, 2026 Five years ago, the Conservatives were polling at around 40 per cent, buoyed by the vaccine rollout and post-Brexit momentum, and went on to gain 235 seats in the 2021 local elections. But ahead of May’s vote, that position seems to have shifted. Political scientist Stephen Fisher has suggested the party could lose as many [...]
Labour to curb jail terms for shoplifters as retail crime fears grow April 4, 2026 Labour’s plans to scrap most prison sentences of under a year will see thousands of prolific shoplifters avoid jail, in a move that risks intensifying pressure on retailers already warning of rising violence and disorder. The changes, introduced under the Sentencing Act, mean around 98 per cent of shoplifters currently in custody would instead qualify [...]
