FTSE 100 Live: Stocks uneven as Trump’s Strait of Hormuz blockade begins April 14, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the CityAM liveblog. Markets were rocked yesterday by the US’ blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, adding a new layer of tensions to the weeks-long conflict in the Middle East. Vice-President JD Vance has accused the Iranian government of engaging in an “act of economic terrorism” through its [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Stocks tumble amid Trump’s Strait of Hormuz blockade April 13, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the CityAM liveblog. Markets are returning from the weekend to a major blow in hopes of a ceasefire in the Middle East. After Donald Trump revealed his two-week reprieve on strikes whilst negotiations begin, those very talks now look to be hanging by a thread. Vice President JD [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Stocks jittery as North Sea oil prices smash record April 10, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the CityAM liveblog. Markets are continuing to digest the ever-changing narrative coming out of the conflict in the Middle East but even as hopes of a peace deal rise, the economic overhang still threatens to send shocks across the country. In a speech by Kristalina Georgieva, the IMF’s managing [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Stocks take a dip as Trump’s ceasefire in doubt April 9, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the CityAM liveblog. Hopes for peace in the Middle East are on thin ice with the ceasefire unveiled on Wednesday morning already seemingly in tatters. According to Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s parliament speaker, the US and Israel have already “violated” Iran’s 10-point ceasefire proposal in three ways. And [...]
Close Brothers shares soar as bank ‘well positioned’ for £320m motor finance hit April 8, 2026 Close Brothers has insisted it is “well positioned” to absorb the financial hit from the City watchdog’s motor finance redress scheme but added to speculation another legal battle could be on the horizon. The FTSE 250 lender told markets on Wednesday morning that it estimates the cost of the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) redress scheme [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Blue-chip stocks boom on Trump and Iran ceasefire April 8, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the CityAM liveblog. Markets are in line for a major boom this morning after Donald Trump confirmed a two-week ceasefire with Iran shortly ahead of his latest bomb threat deadline. Trump announced the two-week postponement by stating the US and Iran were “very far along” with a “definitive” [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Stocks dip ahead of Trump’s Iran deadline April 7, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the CityAM liveblog. The London market is set to return from the bank holiday break with a major hangover. Whilst the City enjoyed an Easter break, volatile trading continued with Brent crude – the international benchmark for oil – hovering around the $110 mark after see-sawing between gains [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Dow Jones joins City in red; Oil soars on Iran war fears April 2, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the CityAM liveblog. After a dose of optimism hit markets on Wednesday, that looks to all be eradicated come this morning. In a 19-minute long address to the nation, Donald Trump vowed to “finish the job” in Iran and warned the country would be hit “extremely hard” in [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Stocks boom as Trump signals end to Iran war; Starmer eyes closer ties to EU April 1, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the CityAM liveblog. President Trump has made his clearest indication yet that the war in Iran might soon come to a close, saying the US will “leave” Iran in “two to three weeks” when they are certain the regime will not be able to build a nuclear weapon [...]
Motor finance compensation to ‘to fire starting gun’ on banking M&A March 31, 2026 The financial watchdog’s long-awaited motor finance redress scheme is predicted to “fire the starting gun” on a wave of deals throughout the banking sector. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) launched the final rules for its redress programme on Monday, with the bill for lenders expected to come in at just north of £9bn, down from [...]