Businesses brace for more layoffs as redundancy warnings climb to post-Pandemic high May 22, 2026 Last year emerged as the most severe year for redundancy warnings since the height of the Covid pandemic, and early 2026 is already accelerating that trend. According to new data from the Liquidation Centre, sourced via an FOI, 2025 was the most severe year for redundancy warnings since 2020, with 315,605 jobs flagged for potential [...]
SpaceX IPO puts Musk’s AI empire – and ambitions – in the spotlight May 21, 2026 SpaceX has finally opened its books to public markets, revealing a company generating tens of billions in revenue, burning through cash at an extraordinary speed and betting its future on AI as much as rockets. The long-awaited Nasdaq float, expected next month, could value Elon Musk’s space and AI empire at as much as $1.75 [...]
Blackrock eyes SpaceX stake as Musk pulls IPO forward to June May 17, 2026 Elon Musk is pulling SpaceX’s long-awaited stock market debut forward as BlackRock weighs a major investment in what could become the largest IPO ever attempted. The rocket and satellite giant is now expected to price its flotation on 11 June before beginning trading on Nasdaq the following day under the ticker SPCX, according to Bloomberg. [...]
As it happened: Market jitters as Streeting set to make bid against Starmer May 13, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the Morning Wire liveblog. UK borrowing costs are taking a modest breathe this morning after settling much higher yesterday after a session jam-packed with political turmoil. The 10-year yield on UK gilts spiked ten basis points to over 5.1 per cent on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the 30-year yield soared to [...]
Ebay rejects Gamestop’s not ‘credible nor attractive’ $56bn bid May 12, 2026 Global commerce giant Ebay has dismissed an audacious play from video game retailer Gamestop that sought to merge the two companies into a new titan to take on the dominance on Amazon. Ebay’s chairman Paul Pressler said the firm’s board had “thoroughly reviewed [the] proposal and has determined to reject it”. In a letter to [...]
‘Twenty years of caution’: Banking industry ramps up efforts to fix ‘anaemic’ UK growth May 11, 2026 The UK’s industry body for banking has stepped up its lobbying efforts for the government to improve “anaemic” growth figures and bolster the financial services sector. A new report published by UK Finance – the body representing around 300 firms that provide UK banking services – has issued a nine-point plan, which calls for “clear [...]
Shell shares slump after earnings rocket on oil surge May 7, 2026 Shell kicked off a mega share buyback following a bumper first quarter that breezed past expectations on the back of booming oil trading. The FTSE 100 oil major recorded earnings of $6.9bn (£5bn), cruising past the consensus pencilled in by analysts of $6.4bn. It also marked a significant uplift on the $3.3bn pocketed in the [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Stocks down on election day; oil back below $100 as Iran deal hangs in balance May 7, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the Morning Wire liveblog. It’s local election day in the UK and Keir Starmer’s premiership is hanging in the balance as his Labour Party prepares to take a drubbing in council boroughs across the country. Gilt yields rose at their fastest rate earlier this week as the market prepares [...]
AMD stock soars as AI chip demand drives quarterly results May 6, 2026 Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) sent its stock soaring after flying past Wall Street estimates for the first quarter of the year, thanks to swelling AI infrastructure demand. AMD shares rose 15 per cent after hours on Tuesday, after the Santa Clara-headquartered chipmaker reported $10.3bn revenue, up 38 per cent on the same period last year. [...]
HSBC profit drops after Iran war and private credit charges bite May 5, 2026 HSBC missed its profit target in the first quarter of the year after the blue-chip lender booked a mammoth credit charge. The FTSE 100 giant – which boasts a huge £230bn market cap – recorded a pre-tax profit of $9.4bn (£6.5bn), missing the $9.6bn pencilled in by analysts. This figure is also down $100m on [...]