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 PM 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 PM 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 [...]
FTSE 100 banks £16bn payday to face economic reality check April 27, 2026 Provisions for sour loans threaten to take a bite out of profit growth as Barclays kicks off FTSE 100 banks earnings season next week whilst economic tensions loom over the wider financial industry. UK banks will give a snapshot of the gathering tensions in the economy next week as the nation’s top lenders update the [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Stocks dip as oil prices surge to three-week high April 27, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the City PM liveblog. There’s set to be little relief in markets this morning as investors return from the weekend to oil hitting a three-week high. The price of Brent crude – the international benchmark for oil prices – rose two per cent to over $107 on Monday morning. [...]
Computacenter shares jump as FTSE 250 firm lifts profit forecast April 24, 2026 Shares in Computacenter jumped on Friday as the firm upgraded its profit forecast after cheering a surge in customer demand. The FTSE 250 IT supplier said it now expects to “deliver a much stronger performance” with 2026 pre-tax profit set to come in well ahead of market expectations of £291m. The Hertfordshire-based business said customers [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Stocks drop as Trump in ‘no rush’ to end Iran war; Retail sales jump on fuel rush April 24, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the City PM liveblog. Donald Trump has slapped another extension on ceasefires in the Middle East following Wednesday’s intervention, where a previous deadline was set to expire. Just days ago, Trump said he was extending the ceasefire indefinitely as the deadline for strikes on Iranian power plants drew nearer. [...]
