FTSE 100 Live: US stocks sink on open; Iran warns oil price could hit $200 March 9, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. The chaos in global markets of last following the breakout of conflict in the Middle East is poised to continue as tensions in the Gulf showed no sign of slowing down over the weekend. The price of oil notched its highest gains in a single [...]
Lex Greensill seeks to throw out director ban March 5, 2026 The government’s bid to disqualify the boss of collapsed lender Greensill Group from directing companies in the UK for 12 years should be thrown out as there “cannot be a fair trial”, the High Court has been told. The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) began proceedings against Lex Greensill in 2024 after the Insolvency [...]
Pub industry ‘screaming for a reset’ amid wave of closures, says Shepherd Neame boss March 5, 2026 The beer and pub industry is “screaming for a reset”, the boss of the UK’s oldest brewer has warned, as companies brace for more venue closures under the strain of sharp tax hikes and minimum wage rises. Jonathan Neame, chief executive of Aquis-listed Shepherd Neame, which traces its roots back to 1698, said the “real [...]
Autonomous vehicle firm Oxa taps BP, Nvidia in $103m funding round March 4, 2026 British autonomous vehicle firm Oxa has raised $103m (£77m) in a fresh funding round after attracting support from the world’s most valuable tech firm, Nvidia. The Oxford-based business, formerly known as Oxbotica, completed the Series D raise with backing from the government’s National Wealth Fund as well as from the venture arm of energy giant [...]
Reeves’ Spring Statement gave us little to be cheery about March 4, 2026 Rachel Reeves put on a brave face when she stood up at the dispatch box yesterday afternoon to unveil her Spring Statement. And although we were subjected to the usual staccato delivery, the Chancellor’s performance was more confident than usual. But a cursory glance at the latest Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) projections show there [...]
Inchcape shares slide amid Asia market ‘challenges’ March 3, 2026 Shares in Inchcape tumbled on Tuesday after the car distribution business warned of challenges in Asian markets. The London-listed firm was the worst performer on the FTSE 250 index amid a wider stock sell-off, with its shares sliding almost 9 per cent to 793p – though the stock remains up by 3 per cent since [...]
Pearson boss shrugs off investor AI fears after share jitters February 27, 2026 The boss of Pearson has shrugged off shareholder concerns that the company’s services could be usurped by the rising use of AI chatbots. Earlier in the year the education giant was one of a number of London-listed data and software-led stocks, including the likes of Sage and Relx, that suffered steep selloffs amid investor anxieties [...]
LSEG unveils biggest-ever buyback as firm fends off Elliott and AI threat February 26, 2026 The operator of the London Stock Exchange has unveiled its biggest-ever buyback as the company fends off the dual threats of activist investor pressure and shareholder fears over the rise of AI. LSEG said it would buy back at least £3bn of shares over the next twelve months, adding to the £2.1bn buyback carried out [...]
FTSE 100 Live: WPP sinks; LSEG, Rolls-Royce bumper buybacks February 26, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. After a few days of tariff-induced risk aversion, the FTSE 100 was back on blistering form on Wednesday, finishing the day’s trading session with a new record. London’s blue-chip index soared over one per cent to seal yet another record close at 10,806.41p. This was [...]
Buy more small caps, says Panmure Liberum. But which ones? February 26, 2026 Now is the time to get back into British small caps, according to the boffins at Panmure Liberum. Headline valuations, on a P/E ratio basis, don’t seem much different in the small caps compared to their big-cap counterparts. But Panmure says that when you adjust for differences in sector composition, you get an average discount [...]
