Good morning from the City AM liveblog team.
There is no clearer sign of the scale of political turmoil the past nine months than the soaring price of gold.
The precious metal started the year near $2669 and has since soared to $3900 – a rise of over 45 per cent.
The asset now looks set to cross the $4,000 landmark for the first time with the latest rally triggered by the US government shutdown. In the third quarter alone, gold has risen 15 per cent.
But what goes up must come down, and analysts are warning the yellow metal may be due for some pullback even after the glittering performance.
Elsewhere today, we’re expecting big updates from Wetherspoons and Reinshaw.
The FTSE 100 has had a solid week, but did manage to creep into the red for close yesterday.
“London’s FTSE 100 was unable to continue its record-breaking run beyond this morning, despite a surge by US and European indices,” said Danni Hewson, head of financial analysis at AJ Bell.
“Both were buoyed by a surge in chip stocks as mega deals to kit out data centres grab global attention and the AI boom continues to show no signs of abating.
“Wall Street’s nervousness about the ongoing government shutdown appeared to be eclipsed by rate cut hopes, with investors betting that the Fed will deliver two further cuts this year despite the anticipated delay of key jobs data which had been expected to land tomorrow.”
Here’s a summary of our top headlines from yesterday:
Shawbrook gearing up for £2bn IPO in boost to London market
Thames Water creditors offer £4bn debt write-off
Rachel Reeves plots stamp duty exemption for newly listed shares
Lloyds looks to take control of Schroders wealth tie-up
Investment platform Freetrade looks to shake up the mutual funds market
Wagamama owner sheds 2,000 jobs as losses widen
Tesco boss warns Reeves that ‘enough’s enough’ ahead of Budget