FTSE 100 Live: Diploma leads stocks as pound ticks up; Oil dips March 18, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. The FTSE 100 index closed up 0.8 per cent higher on Tuesday at 10,403.60p. The gains were accompanied by a stronger performance from the pound, which finished up $1.334 by the time London markets closed, compared to $1.329 on Monday. Sterling and the City were [...]
It’s not the oil price, it’s the government response that matters March 18, 2026 Like most commodities, oil has fluctuated in price very substantially over time with regrettable effects on household incomes. But the biggest mistake would be to try to protect living standards as a whole when the country has been made worse off, says Paul Ormerod Shock, horror, the oil price is over $100 a barrel. The [...]
February showers dampen hospitality sales March 18, 2026 February’s wet weather kept Brits at home as hospitality sales fell compared to last year, extending a poor start to the year for the sector. The rainy month meant total like-for-like sales were 0.2 per cent lower than in February 2025, with sales having dropped 0.1 per cent year on year in January, according to [...]
Janus Henderson Special Committee Confirms Receipt of Revised Unsolicited, Non-Binding Proposal from Victory Capital March 17, 2026 Janus Henderson Group plc (NYSE: JHG; “JHG, ” “Janus Henderson, ” or the “Company”) today confirmed that on March 17, 2026, the Special Committee (the “Special Committee”) of the Janus Henderson Board of Directors (the “Board”) received a revised unsolicited non-binding proposal from Victory Capital. In consultation with its independent financial and legal advisors and [...]
Energy bills bailout speculation sparks bond sell-off fears March 17, 2026 An unfunded government intervention to subsidise household energy bills would trigger a gilt market rout likely to push the UK’s long-term borrowing costs to the highest they have been since 1997, bond investors and economists have warned. David Zahn, head of European fixed income at Franklin Templeton, told City AM that the prospect of ministers [...]
Reform UK pledge energy tax cut in swipe at Labour March 17, 2026 Robert Jenrick has said Reform UK would strip VAT from energy bills months after the government flirted with the £2bn tax cut, deepening the party’s row with Labour. The “shadow chancellor” said Reform would strip VAT and green levies from household energy bills if it came to power, thereby saving households an estimated £200. Party [...]
Bank of England ‘should wait’ before cutting interest rates, City AM Shadow MPC says March 17, 2026 The Bank of England should “wait and see” how long the war in Iran goes on for before cutting interest rates again, leading economists on City AM’s Shadow Monetary Policy Committee have said. The crisis in the Middle East has pushed up energy prices and heightened fears that the UK economy is heading for a [...]
Why this oil shock isn’t like the last one March 17, 2026 The new surge in oil prices will be shaped more by political responses than by monetary policy, due to a crucial shift in the economic backdrop from the tight labor markets of 2022 to the current looser conditions, says Helen Thomas This week, six major central banks meet in quick succession, including the big four: [...]
‘No one expects’ Bank of England to cut interest rates, says former MPC member March 17, 2026 A former member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has said that “no one expects a cut” to interest rates amidst deepening conflict in the Middle East. Prof Jonathan Haskel, who is also a member of City AM’s Shadow Monetary Policy Committee, told BBC Radio 4’s ‘Today’ programme he believes a rates [...]
Alcohol-free beer and hummus: Trendy food transforms inflation basket March 16, 2026 Healthy food and personal security products have dominated the list of additions to the Office for National Statistics’ basket of goods, which is used to calculate CPI inflation each month. Alcohol-free beer, hummus and baby food are among the new entries in the inflation basket of goods, it has been revealed. The revisions to the [...]