Gold meltdown takes shine off speculative rally February 2, 2026 The 12th Century theologian Alain de Lille could be forgiven a chortle on his heavenly cloud after witnessing the latest rollercoaster in gold prices. “Do not hold everything gold that shines like gold,” he warned over 800 years ago, a warning that many traders failed to heed in the latest speculative rally. Last Thursday the [...]
‘No comment’: City firms on Starmer China trip keep schtum January 29, 2026 When Sir Keir Starmer boarded a British Airways flight to Beijing earlier this week, he brought with him a coterie of leaders from British industry to help fly the flag. More than 50 delegates were invited on the PM’s trip, many from top City institutions such as law firm Clifford Chance and accounting giant PwC. [...]
Women’s Super League chief paid £531,000 as it made £2.4m loss January 29, 2026 The highest earner at the independent company set up to run the Women’s Super League, believed to be chief executive Nikki Doucet, was paid £531,000 as it made a £2.4m loss. Accounts published by Companies House reveal the finances in the first year of Women’s Super League Football Limited, which took over management of the [...]
LSEG axes Financial Times subscriptions amid FTSE coverage retreat January 29, 2026 The operator of the London Stock Exchange has cancelled hundreds of corporate subscriptions to the Financial Times, City AM understands, in a move that could end a decades-long relationship between the two City institutions. LSEG is understood to have taken the decision in response to the paper’s gradual retreat from coverage of the London markets, [...]
Nationwide reigns supreme in bank switch war as Santander falters January 29, 2026 Nationwide maintained its top spot in the tussle for current account switchers in the third quarter of 2025 as the mutual sweetened its offer for new joiners. The building society – which was slapped with a £44m fine in December for failing to flag Covid fraud – secured a net gain of 41,450 switchers after [...]
‘Woke’ banknotes: Bank of England orders money printer to follow ESG rules January 29, 2026 The Bank of England is facing backlash over its plans to make a new banknote printer comply with ESG and diversity standards under a “pass or fail” regime. Bank officials have attracted criticism from shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith over their plans to make applicants for the UK’s new money printing contract follow stringent criteria [...]
Lib Dems: Starmer has gone ‘cap in hand’ to China despite spy threats January 28, 2026 Keir Starmer has been accused of going “cap in hand” to China, piling further criticism on the government’s trade ambitions with a country that has backed hacking operations against the UK. Liberal Democrats deputy leader Daisy Cooper demanded deputy prime minister David Lammy, who stood in for Starmer at PMQs, to name a “single consequence” [...]
Banks cool on interest rate cut expectations amid forecasting clash January 28, 2026 Top City banks have pushed back their predictions for the Bank of England’s next interest rate cut as forecasters are split on whether high inflation could upend monetary policy decisions. UBS Investment Bank economist Anna Titareva pushed back a call for the Bank’s next cut from February to March after the Office for National Statistics [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Pound at 2021 high as Trump shrugs at dollar woes January 28, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. Has the mining sector’s rally finally run out of steam? It appeared so on Tuesday, where City banks helped lift the FTSE 100 out of the red as miners across the board sank despite the ever-increasing price of precious metals. Fresnillo – the best performing [...]
Sterling surges to highest in four years amid dollar weakness January 27, 2026 Sterling touched its highest level against the dollar in four years on Tuesday as selling pressure on the greenback intensified. The pound was trading at $1.376, its highest level since 2021, while the euro also rose to multi-year highs on Tuesday afternoon, continuing a poor run for the dollar. In January alone the dollar index [...]