FTSE 100 Live: Stocks dip after oil spikes on Hormuz tensions Markets Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. The London market is returning from the long weekend to little change amidst the conflict in the Middle East. A day of tensions on Monday have kept question marks hanging over the Strait of Hormuz as nations scramble to combat fuel shortages. Donald Trump said [...]
RWS to acquire UK AI platform in £40m deal Business Global AI solutions company RWS Holdings has reached an agreement to acquire UK based AI company Obviously in a bumper £40m deal as it looks to pivot to become a “technology-first business”. AIM-listed RWS agreed to buy the AI platform for an initial cash offer of £16.5m, with an earn-out consideration of up to £23.5m, [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Stocks drop amid US-Iran war mixed messaging; House prices up Markets Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. Markets are scrambling for some messaging this morning as tensions around the Iran war drag on. Donald Trump faced a deadline for today whether to formally end the war in Iran or make the case to the US Congress for extending it. But an official [...]
Bank of England Live: Interest rates held as hawks warn of ‘highly uncertain’ energy prices April 30, 2026 Welcome back to the City AM liveblog. The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee has today decided to hold interest rates at 3.75 per cent in a hawkish display. In last month’s decision, the Bank held rates in a unanimous decision. Afterwards, short-term gilt yields, which reflect government borrowing costs, sharply rose as traders priced [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Stocks drop as oil holds firm over $110; UK growth slashed April 29, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. Oil prices are holding firm tipping over the $110 mark, bringing the cost of a barrel closer to the highs of $118 it peaked at earlier in the Iran war. Brent crude – the international benchmark for oil – advanced another one per cent on [...]
Housing stocks drag on FTSE as inflation woes build into Bank of England interest rates call April 28, 2026 Fears about the impact of interest rates on the UK’s struggling economy echoed around the City into this week’s set-piece interest rate meeting at the Bank of England. A trio of Tuesday trading updates from London-listed firms with direct exposure to the housing market revealed rising costs. The insight reverberated across an industry which depends on affordable mortgages [...]
Ferrexpo: Miner taps Ukrainian oligarch for $100m equity lifeline April 28, 2026 Cash-strapped London-listed Ukrainian miner Ferrexpo confirmed today that existing investors are prepared to throw it a $100m lifeline as the former FTSE 250 stalwart scrambles to stay in business. It plans to issue new shares to raise the cash. But the time needed for the scheme will delay publication of its annual accounts for last [...]
WPP sales down again despite uptick in new business April 28, 2026 WPP saw its revenue fall by more than six per cent in the first three months of 2026, piling pressure on the advertising giant’s turnaround plan just two months after it was unveiled. The FTSE 250 holding group saw its sales fall by 6.6 per cent to £3bn in the first quarter, while revenue less [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Stocks dip as oil edges higher; BP posts profit boom April 28, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. Oil returned to a three-week high comfortably over the $105 mark on Monday and those gains look set to continue today. Brent crude – the international benchmark for oil prices – edged over $110 on Tuesday morning as it once again appeared peace talks in [...]
London named share buyback capital of the world April 27, 2026 The UK has jumped up the leader board to be named the share buyback capital of the world, as companies looked to capitalise on low valuations and improved investor sentiment. Nearly 60 per cent of UK large cap companies bought their stock back in bulk in the last 12 months, according to the latest research [...]