FTSE 100 Live: Stocks drop as oil returns to near $100 after tankers attacked March 12, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the Morning Wire liveblog. The price of oil shot back above triple digits this morning, rising as much as nine per cent in Asian trading following the news two tankers were struck in the Gulf. An Iraqi news agency broke the news that 38 crew members have been rescued [...]
Robert Walters ditches dividend after swinging to loss March 11, 2026 Robert Walters has ditched its final dividend after the recruitment firm’s bottom line took a major hit amid a cautious global sentiment around hiring. Revenue at the London-listed firm fell 12 per cent to £781.1m over the 2025 financial year – a drop from £892.1m. The group reported an operating loss of £14.9m, reversing a [...]
Barclays and Aquis launch ‘IPO academy’ in bid to revive small-cap listings March 11, 2026 Aquis has teamed up with Barclays to launch an “IPO academy” in a bid to turn around the dwindling number of small-cap listings in the UK, Morning Wire can reveal. The academy, which is the only programme of its kind run by an exchange in the UK, is intended as an investment in entrepreneurs and [...]
Waterstones to book chairman as London listing gains pace March 10, 2026 Bookselling titan Waterstones is on the hunt for a chairman as it picks up the pace on its rumoured London listing. Elliott Management, the activist equity firm which owns Waterstones, has hired headhunters at Russell Reynolds Associates to draw up a list of candidates to join the bookseller’s board. This is the latest signal that [...]
Qplay’s JP Jenkins debut marks lacklustre launch for Pisces March 10, 2026 Roll the dice. Make your move. Prove you’re the smartest. But hurry – the clock’s ticking. That is the opening of a video ad for Outsmarted, a board game owned by Qplay, which is set to be the first company to list on London’s new Pisces private market. It might have also described the fierce [...]
Capita shares tumble as boss warns of declining margins March 10, 2026 Shares in one of the UK’s biggest outsourcing firms have plummeted after its boss warned of declining margins in the year ahead. London-based Capita, which offers support services in areas such as education, health and defence, warned markets it expected a “small decrease” in its operating margin after it swung to a pre-tax loss of £171m [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Stocks soar and oil dips as Trump says war is ‘very complete’ March 10, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the Morning Wire liveblog. It was a day of whiplash for global markets as they kicked off the new week. Stock markets from Europe to Asia and Wall Street sunk into the red on open as the price of oil rose at the fastest rate in six-years. Brent crude, [...]
UK jobs market ‘facing sustained shocks’ March 9, 2026 The Labour government is facing a rallying cry to ease the cost burden on businesses to avoid derailing a recovery in the jobs market. The latest jobs report from KPMG and the REC, the professional body for recruiters, showed hiring for permanent roles reaching a stabilising point in February with the pace of declines the [...]
Oil on track for biggest weekly jump in 4 years as US mulls intervention March 6, 2026 The oil market is set for its biggest weekly gain in four years after the crisis in the Middle East sent ripples through the energy markets. The price of Brent crude has risen by around 18 per cent in the last week, tipping over $85 a barrel. Should the gains hold up, it would mark [...]
‘Patronising gibberish’ – Top Tory slams Labour’s ‘masculine’ job ad crackdown March 5, 2026 Labour has been criticised for issuing new guidance that warns employers against using ‘masculine’ language in job descriptions. The Office for Equality and Opportunity’s new guidance, published on Wednesday, suggests that businesses swap ‘aggressive character traits’ for more neutral, behaviour-based criteria. The document urges businesses to use neutral language and titles, including “avoid terms associated [...]