Zurich to leverage Beazley’s Lloyd’s platform for global expansion March 2, 2026 Zurich Insurance Group has reached a formal agreement to acquire FTSE 100 giant Beazley, aiming to create a global leader in speciality insurance. Under the terms of the deal, Beazley shareholders will be entitled to receive a total of 1,335p per Beazley share, which puts the cost of the deal at around $10.9bn (£8.14bn). The [...]
Dow Jones slides as FTSE 100 extends losses amid Iran strikes March 2, 2026 Wall Street joined Europe as markets opened on Monday with losses spread across the board as tensions escalated across the Middle East. The Dow Jones dropped nearly one per cent on open to 48,534.58 whilst the S&P 500 shed around 0.7 per cent to 6,828.47. The tech-heavy Nasdaq tumbled 0.7 per cent to 22,505.32. In [...]
Defence stocks jump as Iran conflict drives munitions demand March 2, 2026 European defence stocks rose at the start of the week as investors anticipated that the widening conflict in the Middle East will push up demand for munitions and military hardware. Although the European-wide Stoxx 600 was trading 1.3 per cent lower, many of the continent’s largest weapons manufacturers were comfortably in the green. In the [...]
Oil prices spike as UK base hit by Iranian missile March 2, 2026 Oil prices spiked this morning as tensions continued to escalate in the Middle East, raising concerns that a key shipping route could be halted and an Iranian missile attack on an RAF base could drag the UK into a regional war. The cost of a barrel of brent crude – the international benchmark for oil [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Gas price surge after LNG halt, stocks slide amid Iran conflict March 2, 2026 Good morning and welcome to the Morning Wire 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 [...]
Investors tremble as Iran risks oil price spiral with attack on Strait of Hormuz February 28, 2026 City analysts and policymakers are on edge as a possible attack by Iran on the Strait of Hormuz could send oil prices spiralling. Investors fear a new inflationary shock could hit major economies including the UK as a result of full-blown war between the US and Iran. Many had pinned hopes on nuclear programme negotiations [...]
Pearson boss shrugs off investor AI fears after share jitters February 27, 2026 The boss of Pearson has shrugged off shareholder concerns that the company’s services could be usurped by the rising use of AI chatbots. Earlier in the year the education giant was one of a number of London-listed data and software-led stocks, including the likes of Sage and Relx, that suffered steep selloffs amid investor anxieties [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Pound hits two month low after byelection, Flutter shares tumble February 27, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the Morning Wire liveblog. We were treated to a whole host of corporate updates yesterday and investors in some of the City’s biggest blue-chips were handed plans for bumper returns. Aerospace giant Rolls-Royce revealed ambitions to dish out up to £9bn to shareholders through from 2026 to 2028. The [...]
Birmingham driving service sector boom February 26, 2026 Birmingham has been at the front of a “service sector boom”, according to new research from Oxford Economics, helping to drive job creation across the wider region. The West Midlands combined authority (WMCA), which contains Britain’s second city, saw gross value added (GVA) in the services sector rise by an average of 4.2 per cent [...]
Rolls-Royce shares rally after unveiling bumper buyback plan February 26, 2026 Rolls-Royce has laid out plans to return billions to investors over the next two years after the blue-chip giant’s profit rocketed, leading to an upgrade of targets. The aerospace titan revealed plans for a £7bn to £9bn multi-year share buyback from 2026 to 2028, which comes as the firm wraps up a £1bn buyback from [...]