FTSE 100 Live: Barclays slumps on credit card cap, Fed’s Jerome Powell faces probe

Good morning from the City PM liveblog team.

The FTSE 100 broke through the five-figure mark last week in a welcome start to the year for the London markets. 

The index saw its best annual performance in 2025 since the recovery from the financial crash in 2009. That was helped along in no small part by UK banking stocks, which have outperformed the US Mag 7 over the past couple of years – no mean feat.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves was quick to claim credit for the FTSE 100 breakthrough, suggesting it was a sign of faith in the UK economy. Critics were quick to point out that for most FTSE 100 constituents, the UK only accounts for a small share of their global revenues – while the FTSE 250, which is more weighted towards the UK, has performed less well over the same period.

However, if Reeves claims credit for stocks going up, will she accept responsibility when they fall? That is far from an impossibility – indeed, City PM’s own columnist Mark Kleinman predicts the FTSE 100 index could end up back at four figures by the end of the year.

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Here’s a summary of some of our top stories from over the weekend:

• City pushes back against closer ties with EU
• Business confidence lowest in nearly five years, BDO says
• Manufacturers warn UK faces ‘tipping point’ on competitiveness
• London homeowners most likely to make a loss upon selling their home
• Migrant visa applications plummet in test to Reeves
• Lloyds shares to offer best cash-back rate in Europe, analysts say