FTSE 100 Live: Gas price surge after LNG halt, stocks slide amid Iran conflict March 2, 2026 Good morning and welcome to the City PM liveblog. Global markets were in store for another dose of risk to kick off the new week after tensions in the Middle East reached a boiling point over the weekend. The cost of a barrel of brent crude – the international benchmark for oil prices – climbed [...]
Aston Martin to axe hundreds of jobs as profit plummets February 25, 2026 Aston Martin is poised to cull its workforce by around a fifth after the firm’s bottom line took a beating from President Donald Trump’s erratic tariff agenda. The British manufacturer said on Wednesday it had recognised a provision of £18.7m in relation to expected restructuring costs as it consults on chopping 20 per cent of [...]
Russia’s economy ‘in stagnation’ as war takes toll February 24, 2026 Russia’s economy has “moved into a period of stagnation” after initial war efforts boosted output in the country, amid growing hopes in the West that further sanctions have been successful in limiting its growth. Four years on from the start of President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, economists have flagged the threats faced by [...]
There’s a new Magnificent 7, and it’s called the Fusty 5 February 24, 2026 The success of the ‘Magnificent 7’, a group of technology companies so called for their historic stock market performance and gargantuan scale, has to many been the defining market story of the past half-decade. The seven hyperscalers – which include Alphabet, Amazon and Nvidia – have carried the American stock market to a years-long streak [...]
Trump calls on Big Tech to protect households from AI power costs February 24, 2026 The White House has requested formal pledges from US tech giants that the swelling data centre boom will not drive up electricity bills for households, as concern mounts over AI’s energy demands. Donald Trump has approached behemoths like Microsoft and Alphabet, who have notoriously rallied behind his administration, about signing voluntary, non-binding agreements committing them [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Stocks take a dip amid tariff turmoil; Oil price soars February 24, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the City PM liveblog. The good old safety net of London’s blue-chip index strikes again. The week kicked off with more tariff drama after Saturday’s announcement from President Donald Trump of a sweeping 15 per cent levy across the US’ trading partners. As cool heads prevailed in government – [...]
‘I can do terrible things’: Trump launches fresh tariffs tirade February 23, 2026 The government has said that no response to Donald Trump’s revived trade onslaught is off the table, after the President warned he could still do “terrible things” to the US’s trading partners despite his ‘liberation day’ tariffs being deemed illegal by the Supreme Court. A spokesman for the Prime Minister told reporters that while “no [...]
Three more interest rate cuts could come, Bank of England official says February 23, 2026 The Bank of England could make three more interest rate cuts in order to reach its neutral level as inflation drops back to two per cent over the coming year, a Monetary Policy Committee member has suggested. Alan Taylor, an external member who has consistently voted for larger interest rate cuts over the past year [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Stocks jittery after Trump tariffs; Job vacancies fall February 23, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the City PM liveblog. Tariffs are once more redefining market sentiment. Last Friday, a number of FTSE 100 stocks popped on the news President Donald Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ levies had been struck down by the US Supreme Court. It marked a major boost to global markets after the top [...]
Bank to business lending growth to halve amid global tensions February 23, 2026 UK bank to businesses lending growth is forecast to halve this year as firms feel the pinch of challenging conditions amid global tensions. Net growth in the value of lending from the banking sector to businesses is tipped to slow to 3.5 per cent this year, standing at nearly half of the 6.9 per cent [...]
