As it happened: UK stocks cool after Astrazeneca drags; Trump and Iran clash over peace talks FTSE 100 Live Welcome back to the Morning Wire liveblog. The London stock market is starting the new week relatively mixed after Donald Trump hinted a deal between US and Iran on the Strait of Hormuz is near, but was contradicted by communication from Tehran. The US President has said that Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar and Iran [...]
As it happened: FTSE 100 relief rally runs out of steam as BP and Shell weigh; Oil hits three-month low Markets Welcome back to the Morning Wire liveblog. Market sentiment is starting the new week on a positive note after Pakistan said an official peace deal between the US and Iran would be signed this Friday in Switzerland. Asian equities were sent soaring on the news after over a 100 days of uncertainty gripped global markets, [...]
As it happened: Stocks jitter on stalling US-Iran talks; OECD unemployment warning Markets Welcome back to the Morning Wire liveblog. Markets are being pulled in countless directions from the conflicting information emerging around the conflict in the Middle East. The FTSE 100 managed to shrug off some of these jitters yesterday and secure a finish 0.3 per cent higher as the price of oil slipped. But this morning [...]
As it happened: Stocks plummet on latest Iran war tensions; Neets crisis a ‘human tragedy’ May 28, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the Morning Wire liveblog. The US and Iran are back to exchanging fire in a major blow to hopes of peace in the Middle East. Tehran struck an American airbase overnight in its retaliation for the US striking a military site that it said “posed a threat to US forces [...]
As it happened: Choppy finish for FTSE 100 as global markets rocked by AI sell-off May 19, 2026 Welcome back to the Morning Wire liveblog. Businesses have raised the alarm over falling vacancies as new data showed a further weakening in the jobs market. Vacancies remained at a five-year low in April 2026, with a leading industry group saying recruiters were “pausing” plans to hire workers. The British Chambers of Commerce’s head of [...]
Petroineos: Sir Jim Ratcliffe-backed energy giant loses $250m October 24, 2025 Petroineos, the energy trading company backed by Sir Jim Ratcliffe, lost $250m (£187.5m) in 2024 as it slumped into the red for the first time since 2020, it has been revealed. The Jersey-based business has reported the pre-tax loss after posting a profit of $30m in 2023. The results for the previous financial year were [...]
Change windfall tax to make £137bn by 2050, Chancellor told September 1, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been urged to reform the windfall tax in a move that could boost the economy by £137bn by 2050. Ahead of the start of its conference in Aberdeen this week, trade body Offshore Energy UK (OEUK) released a report claiming replacing the energy profits levy next year with a profits-based mechanism [...]
BP CEO takes huge pay cut as profit slashed at FTSE 100 giant March 6, 2025 The chief executive of BP has taken a £2.3m pay cut as profit was slashed at the FTSE 100 giant. Murray Auchincloss received a pay packet of £5.4m for 2024, down from the £7.7m he received in 2023. The drop came amid a more than £1.1m cut to his bonus to £734,000, and a £1.6m [...]
BP ramps up fossil fuel spending and rows back on green targets February 26, 2025 BP will dial up its spending on oil and gas by $10bn (£7.9bn), slash its investment into renewable energy and offload $20bn of underperforming assets as part of a major strategic overhaul that aims to boost its beleaguered share price. In a much anticipated – and delayed – announcement from boss Murray Auchincloss, the British [...]
Cut taxes for BP and Shell to protect UK from Trump’s trade war, Rachel Reeves told February 6, 2025 Oil giants such as BP and Shell who operate in the North Sea should be given huge tax breaks to help protect the UK against Donald Trump’s burgeoning trade war, Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been told. Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce is calling on the UK government to reduce the 78 per cent tax [...]