Stocks rise as investors find signs of stability

Working people are set to benefit from jobs and greater security as the chancellor secures a £240m investment from a major Spanish business.

Exolum, one of Europe’s leading liquid‑storage companies will make the investment to strengthen critical fuel storage, aviation resilience and national energy security.

The deal comes a day after the Chancellor set out how the government will pursue the three biggest opportunities for economic growth in Britian: a closer and more stable economic relationship with the EU, a step change in AI and frontier technology, and unlocking growth in every region and nation of the UK.

At the heart of pursuing a closer economic relationship with the EU will be the new National Interest Principles to guide decisions on aligning with the UK’s biggest and closest market.

The principles will bring discipline and clarity to choices that can cut the cost of doing business, reduce friction at the border, and give firms the certainty they need to invest and grow.

Rachel Reeves will visit Madrid today (Wednesday 18th March) to meet 120 of Spain’s top businesses and investors, landing a flurry of investments and agreements in energy, transport, mobility and trade in services.

She will also hold talks with her Spanish counterpart, Minister of Economy, Trade and Business Carlos Cuerpo, where they will announce a simplification of the process to travel to Spain for UK services professionals staying less than 90 days.

The UK is the world’s second largest exporter of services – and this change could be worth around £250 million in additional exports to UK exporters over a five-year period.

Rachel Reeves said:

Nick Thomas-Symonds, the Paymaster General, was asked whether warnings of a petrol shortage were “alarmist” and if ministers had put contingency plans in place for rationing.

He told Sky News:

Sky is preparing to pull the plug on its controversial news joint venture with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) after the channel was accused of propaganda and genocide denial.

The British satellite broadcaster has effectively given notice that it will withdraw Sky News Arabia’s licence to use its brand next year, The Telegraph has reported.

Here are the details…

It is understood that Sky executives delivered the news to the UAE’s state media business, IMI, late last year and have completed the necessary legal work for the licence to lapse.

Communications between the two sides remain open and an agreement to salvage the partnership could yet be reached. Both Sky and IMI declined to comment.

The upcoming split follows Sky News Arabia being accused of whitewashing atrocities carried out by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a Sudanese paramilitary group backed by the UAE, according to Western intelligence agencies.

Sheikh Mansour, the Manchester City owner who also funds IMI, has allegedly played a key role controlling the UAE’s activities in Sudan. The UAE has denied culpability for atrocities committed by the RSF.

In 2024, the Gulf state lashed out at the UK via the former Conservative minister Nadhim Zahawi for “standing by while the Sudanese defame them” at the UN.

IMI had separately in 2023 attempted to take control of The Telegraph in a partnership with RedBird Capital Partners, a US private equity firm. The deal was blocked following an outcry over press freedom.

After extended wrangling, the pair have agreed to sell the newspaper on to the German publisher Axel Springer.

The decision by Sky to break ties with IMI will bring to an end a 50-50 partnership first agreed in 2010.

Here are the top FTSE risers and fallers this morning:

By the end of 2025, UK unemployment rose to the highest rate in almost five years, reaching 5.2% in the final quarter of the year.

Britain’s labour market is showing increasing strain as businesses struggle to battle rising operational costs, less demand, and ongoing economic uncertainty. The challenges facing businesses have led to many employers cutting their workforce or even going into insolvency altogether.

New data sourced by the experts at Liquidation Centre has revealed that 2025 was the most severe year for redundancy warnings since 2020, with 315,605 jobs flagged for potential redundancy and redundancy payouts totalling £477,709,323 in 2025.

The experts at Liquidation Centre, a trusted UK liquidation firm focused on solvent liquidations (MVL), for contractors and small business owners, while also supporting Creditors’ Voluntary Liquidations (CVL) for insolvent businesses, sent a Freedom of Information request to the Insolvency Service to determine how many employers made or planned redundancies and the expected redundancy payout for proposed dismissals from 2020 to 2025.

Study highlights:

• 2025 was the worst year since COVID for redundancies, with 315,605 jobs flagged for potential redundancy with a combined payout of £477,709,323

• In the first two months of 2026, 736 employers have already filed for proposed redundancies, putting 56,396 jobs at risk of redundancy – 9% higher than in 2025

• The number of HR1 advance notice of redundancy forms issued in February 2026 (430) is almost identical to February 2009 (433), shortly before the recession peak

• Over 2 million redundancy warnings were made between 2020 and 2025 (2,087,709), with June appearing as the worst month for redundancies in the UK

As stocks rise and oil prices fall this morning, UK government bonds are also rallying which means borrowing costs are being pushed down.

The yield (or interest rate) on the bonds has reversed from the rise seen early in the Middle East conflict.

Two-year bond yields are down 4 basis points (0.04 percentage points) at 4.01%, the lowest in a week. This is the third daily fall in a row, as the weakening oil price eases inflation worries.

Ten-year bond yields are down at a one-week low of 4.656%, a drop of 4.4 basis points.

It comes as the US Federal Reserve is due to announce its next decision on interest rates later today, with the Bank of England and European Central Bank to do the same on Thursday.

All are expected to leave borrowing costs on hold as they wait to see how the Iran war impacts inflation.

Crude prices remained above $100 a barrel on Wednesday morning but eased from previous highs after Iraq signed a deal to resume exports via Turkey.

Brent crude (BZ=F) futures lost 1.1% to $102 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (CL=F) dropped 2.2% to $93.40 at the time of writing.

Brent remains below its recent peak of $119.50, reached after the outbreak of war, but is still up almost 50% from pre-conflict levels.

Iraq has reportedly reached an agreement with Turkey to restart oil exports through its territory, having also agreed with Kurdistan to pump crude through a pipeline in the region.

According to Reuters, exports from Iraq’s Kirkuk fields via pipeline to Turkey’s Ceyhan port have resumed, offering an alternative route to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

However, the rerouting of Iraqi oil through Turkey is expected to provide only partial relief to supply concerns. Bloomberg reported that Iraq’s oil production has fallen to about 1.4m barrels a day, roughly a third of levels before the closure of Hormuz.

Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote, said:

The Iraqi state news agency reported that Kirkuk had resumed pumping oil via Turkey’s Ceyhan port at a rate of 250,000 barrels.

Jim Reid of Deutsche Bank said:

Stocks in Asia were higher overnight, with the Nikkei (^N225) rose 2.9% on the day in Japan, after the government reported exports were higher than expected in February, while the Hang Seng (^HSI) climbed 0.6% in Hong Kong.

The Shanghai Composite (000001.SS) was 0.3% up by the end of the session and in South Korea, the Kospi (^KS11) surged 5% on the day.

Across the pond on Wall Street, the S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose 0.3%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq (^IXIC) was 0.5% higher. The Dow Jones (^DJI) also gained 0.1%.

It comes as investors await the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision, expected later this evening. Traders will be watching for whether policymakers will raise rates in response to the surge in energy costs caused by the Gulf crisis.

Good morning, and welcome back to our markets live blog. As usual we will be taking a deep dive into what’s moving markets and happening across the global economy.

Looking at the day ahead, and the main highlight will be the Federal Reserve’s policy decision and Chair Powell’s subsequent press conference. In addition, the Bank of Canada will also announce their decision. Otherwise, US data releases include PPI for February, and factory orders for January.

Here’s a snapshot of what’s on the agenda:

• 7am: Trading updates: Softcat, Moonpig

• 10am: Eurozone inflation report for February

• 12.30pm: US producer prices inflation (PPI) report for February

• 1.45pm:Bank of Canada interest rate decision

• 6pm: US Federal Reserve interest rate decision

• 6.30pm: Federal Reserve press conference