Barclays shares slide as sour loan provisions balloon to £823m April 28, 2026 Barclays made a mammoth reservation for bad loans in the first quarter led by the hostilities in the global market and a single name charge in its investment banking division. The blue-chip lender set aside £823m for potential loan losses, up from £643m in the same period last year, in a stark sign the firm [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Stocks dip as oil edges higher; BP posts profit boom April 28, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the Morning Wire 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 [...]
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 Morning Wire 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. [...]
‘Waste of time’: Trump cancels envoys’ trips to Pakistan for Iran talks April 26, 2026 Donald Trump has cancelled a trip by US envoys to Pakistan to hold more peace talks with Iran, shortly after Tehran’s delegation left Islamabad. The US President said special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner would be wasting “too much time” on the trip, accusing Iran’s delegation of “tremendous infighting and confusion”. The collapse [...]
Mondi shares slump over Iran war cost warning April 24, 2026 Shares in paper and packaging giant Mondi have slumped after the firm revealed it is facing soaring costs as a result of the Iran war. The FTSE 100 firm saw its share price drop by more than six per cent in early trading, as it warned it has already faced higher energy, raw material and [...]
‘There’s a lot of risk out there’ – Bank of England warns of market ‘adjustment’ April 24, 2026 A top Bank of England official has warned that global markets could fall even further with current share prices not reflecting the economic risks at play. Sarah Breeden, the Bank’s deputy governor for financial stability, said: “There’s a lot of risk out there and yet asset prices are at all-time highs. “We expect there will [...]
Retail sales jump as motorists stock up on fuel April 24, 2026 Retailers saw a much-needed sales boost in the last month as Brits rushed to stock up on fuel amid fears that the Iran war could choke global supplies. Total retail sales were up 0.7 per cent in March, compared to a 0.6 fall in February, as fuel sales rose sharply by more than six per [...]
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 Morning Wire 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. [...]
WH Smith profit grounded as flight cancellations take hold April 23, 2026 WH Smith shares tumbled after the retailer adopted a more “cautious outlook” as the Iran war sparks a slowdown in international tourism. The retailer’s share price fell by more than 15 per cent on Thursday’s open, to 532p, leaving the stock down more than 16 per cent in the year so far. The stationer suffered [...]