- FTSE 100 climbs 11 points to 10,138
- UK inflation rises for first time in five months
- Burberry tops blue-chip leaderboard after update
5.05pm: FTSE closes higher
The FTSE 100 finished the session in positive territory, up 11 points at 10,138 after Trump’s Davos remarks calmed markets.
4.10pm: Relief rally
London stocks are giving back some of their gains as we head towards the close.
European markets are mostly in green, and Wall Street is strongly higher, removing most of yesterday's losses.
The Dow is up 0.9%, the S&P has risen 1% and the Nasdaq has rebounded almost 1.2%.
Markets' relief was "palpable", says IG analyust Chris Beauchamp, after Trump appeared to rule out using force to take Greenland.
While they had to sit through a long rambling speech where the US President tilted against windmills (wind farms) in Europe and frequently said Iceland when he appeared to mean Greenland, he did not ramp up the invective.
"The key nugget was his comment on ruling out military action to seize Greenland. This has delivered the magic moment everyone was waiting for, and stocks duly rallied while the VIX slumped as fears of a total rupture of the Western alliance receded.
"While the EU parliament has suspended work on the US trade deal, the diminishing chance of a US-EU trade war has allowed a more positive atmosphere to prevail.”
However, many viewers of Trump's speech noted that while he said the US won't "use force" to take Greenland, the threat to take control of the island remained, with the US President saying Greenland is part of North America and is "our territory".
i like how everyone takes him seriously when he says he won't use force in Greenland but pretends not to hear when he mixes it up with Iceland. Which bits should we listen to?
— Katie Martin (@katie0martin.ft.com) January 21, 2026 at 3:25 PM
It’s incredible that the market response that incredibly ignorant goon and his shambolic remarks is to rip higher.
— Tom Hearden (@followtheh.bsky.social) January 21, 2026 at 4:04 PM
3pm: Gold drops a little
Trump's speech in Davos saw a "modest" rally, with markets "a touch more risk on", says market analyst Neil Wilson at Saxo.
Gold dropped a little as Trump ruled out the use of force, from $4879 to $4844 an oz.
"I guess the comments eased market concerns about the extreme tail risk that the US would invade Greenland, but they do not soothe concerns about the use of tariffs against several European nations and the threat of an escalating trade war between the EU and US.
"This relief rally may prove short-lived."
2.47pm: FTSE flips into green after Trump speech
The FTSE has flipped into the green, but mainland European stock markets are remain mostly depressed.
This followed a more peacable speech from President Trump than some expected.
Trump said he wants immediate talks about buying Greenland, but won’t use military might.
"I don’t have to use force. I don’t want to use force. I won’t use force," he said but said he wants “title and ownership” for the US because he doesn’t want to defend "license agreement" claims
In London, Burberry is still top riser, up 6.1%, followed by miners Rio Tinto, Anglo and Glencore, along with JD Sports, Diageo and Bunzl.
Wall Street has opened on the front foot.
The Dow Jones has started with a gain of 0.6%, the S&P 500 is up 0.5% and the Nasdaq 0.3%.
Energy company Chevron is topping the Dow, with sector peers also prominent among S&P risers.
2pm: Trump speech mainly rambling so far
Donald Trump's speech is not yet proving the market moving event many expected.
He has covered Venezuela, saying the US will split oil revenue with the country and that "every major oil company is coming in with us", adding that gasoline prices "will soon be less than $2 a gallon".
Trump also says the monthly trade deficit has been slashed 77%, with nations in Europe, plus Japan, South Korea now US partners, while also mentioning that the US is "going heavy" into nuclear energy.
I need to get lunch but am worried about missing the "mic drop" bit at the end of the speech where he sends markets crashing.
The FTSE has pared losses to just 5 points now, down from over 30 before. US futures little changed.
Markets moribund so far during Trump's speech as every participant watching has fallen asleep
— Michael Brown (@MrMBrown) January 21, 2026
12.51pm: US futures flattish
US futures are down only modestly today as investors wait and see what Donald Trump and his delegation say in Davos later today.
Dow Jones and S&P 500 futures are down 0.1%, those for the Nasdaq are 0.2% lower.
Market analyst Kenny Polcari at SlateStone Wealth says the fall in markets up til now has been driven by "headline risk", not economic fundamentals.
"This is noise, not collapse," he says.
There is some economic data, including the Red Book and housing market numbers, plus earnings from a half dozen S&P companies, including Johnson & Johnson and Charles Schwab.
"I don’t expect any of them to drive the broader narrative at all….the focus is squarely on Davos and Trump's speech."
With the S&P, Nasdaq and Mag 7 having slipped into negative territory as well, while the Dow, Russell and the Equal-Weight S&P are all still up on the year, Polcari says this is "a reminder that this is rotation, not collapse".
12.16pm: Ryanair bump from Musk spat
Ryanair Holdings PLC (LSE:RYA) chief executive Michael O’Leary said he has sent a free flight ticket to Elon Musk and launched a 'Big Idiot' seat sale after the billionaire called for him to be fired.
Last week, after O'Leary ruled out the airline adopting internet connectivity using connectivity from Space's Starlink, Musk called the airline boss an "is an utter idiot. Fire him."
The owner of SpaceX and Tesla CEO went on to float the possibility that he could buy Ryanair.
In a press conference today, O'Leary claimed that the social media row had caused a sales bump of 2-3% and said that Musk, because he has American and South Afircan citizenship, would not be able to become its new owner.
11.47am: Trump's Treasury Sec jeered at Davos
Some Davos fun and games, as US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick was apparently heckled at a World Economic Forum dinner last night.
The Davos dinner, hosted by BlackRock’s Larry Fink, "descended into uproar", according to an FT report this morning, after remarks from Lutnick described as "combative".
These were met with "widespread jeering" and led to some guests walking out.
An op-ed in the FT by Lutnick earlier on Tuesday saw him say that the Trump administration is "not going to Davos to uphold the status quo. We’re going to confront it head on" and "make one thing crystal clear: with President Trump, capitalism has a new sheriff in town".
11.32am: Deutsche Bank CEO defends research note
The White House was apparently not very happy about the research note from Deutsche Bank at the weekend that pointed out that European countries own $8 trillion of US bonds and equities, "almost twice as much as the rest of the world combined" and that "in an environment where the geoeconomic stability of the western alliance is being disrupted existentially, it is not clear why Europeans would be as willing to play this part".
Treasury Secretary Bessent told reporters at Davos this morning that: "The CEO of Deutsche Bank called to say that Deutsche Bank does not stand by that analyst report."
A Danish pensions manager, AkademikerPension, said yesterday that it was selling $100 million in US Treasuries, with the decision said to be driven by “poor [US] government finances".
(Swedish pension fund Alecta has also sold 80-90% of its circa $11 billion of UST position since the start of the year.)
When asked how concerned he is about European investors pulling out of Treasuries, Bessent said: "Denmark’s investment in U.S. Treasury bonds, like Denmark itself, is irrelevant. That is less than $100 million. They’ve been selling Treasuries for years, I’m not concerned at all."
A Deutsche Bank spokesperson told CNBC: “As a matter of long-standing policy, Deutsche Bank Research is independent in their work, therefore views expressed in individual research notes do not necessarily represent the view of the bank’s management".
11.06am: Markets await Trump's Davos speech this afternoon
While the FTSE is just below flat now, some European markets have also dropped further and some are modestly in the green.
Germany's DAX and Spain's IBEX are both down around 0.5%, while in Paris the CAC 40 is up less than 0.1% point.
Today that "will undoubtably be focused on Donald Trump’s appearance in Davos", says market analyst Joshua Mahony at Scope Markets, adding that politicians and markets will both be anxiously awaiting a speech that "could go down in history".
Based on past comments, he sees the US President as happy to see Russia as an emerging force in Europe.
"The plan to gradually withdraw US armed forces from European locations further highlights the fact that the US President seems more interested in shifting the deck of cards in favour of Russia and away from their historical partners in Europe."
Trump's so-called ‘board of peace’ is currently likely to be headed by a who's who of anti-EU leaders, "there will be a great degree of trepidation for long-standing allies of the US when the President takes to the stage".
As Nato nations scramble for a new pathway forward, Mahony says this "appears likely to play into the hands of China given comments from Carney and Macron yesterday. This could explain why we have seen mainland Chinese and Hong Kong stocks on the rise overnight."
10.26am: House prices increase
The official UK house price index rose by 2.5% year-on-year in November, up from a 1.9% gain in October.
Growth in October was revised up from 1.7% previously.
In seasonally adjusted terms, prices rose by 0.7% month-to-month in October, up from a 0.3% gain in October. October's drop was revised better from a 0.1% gain before. No consensus was reported.
House prices jumped in November, despite high political uncertainty and mounting pre-Budget tax-hike speculation in the second half of 2025.
9.44am: Premier Foods sales swell as consumers lap up product innovations
Shares in Premier Foods (LSE:PFD) are top of the FTSE 350 leaderboard, up 6%, as the Mr Kipling maker reported a sales growth acceleration in the past quarter and said trading profits should be at the top end of the £193-198 million range.
Growth was helped by product innovation, including OXO bone broth, Paxo stuffing wreath, Angel Delight bubble jelly.
Group sales grew 4.1% and branded revenues were up 5.2%, with market share gains in both grocery and sweet treats.
New category sales delivered 29% growth, led by the growing success of FUEL10K yogurt and granola.
Broker Peel Hunt said the shares "seem exceedingly good value" on 11.2 times March 2026 forecast earnings.
9.23am: Stocks flat, but bond market eyed
Burberry and a group of miners are keeping the FTSE 100 in positive territory, with the other end of the scale being led by a 6% fall for Experian, followed by a group of banks and defence companies.
Experian is down despite reporting third-quarter organic growth of 8%, beating consensus forecasts of 7.7%, but down from 9% in the preceding quarter.
Market moves have been "sharp but relatively shallow", says analyst Neil Wilson at Saxo, with the FTSE 100's defensive characteristics and weighting towards miners helping it outperform this week.
"Losses have been steeper on the continent – more exposed to trade flows and tariff risk – with the DAX roughly 3% below its all-time high also struck in recent days."
Mainland European stock markets are just below flat this morning, with all eyes on Trump's Davos arrival and speech that has been scheduled for 2.30pm European time, but his plane is reportedly delayed by about three hours.
"US Treasuries and the dollar were offered in what can be called a ‘sell America’ trade," says Wilson.
"Japan’s bond market could be more important right now than the geopolitics, but we are keeping a close eye on both as there is the potential for a drawdown in global liquidity and general derisking to stoke a meaningful stock market correction."
Last night, with US stock markets suffered their worst session since October, Wilson says "maybe only the markets can stop Trump now".
After Canadian PM Mark Carney referenced Thucydides yesterday – "the strong do what they can, the weak suffer what they must", Wilson approves of the former BoE governor invoking the Melian Dialogue ahead of talks over Greenland’s future taking place in Davos (this was when Athens demanded neutral Melos join its empire during the Peloponnesian war in 416 BC).
"Increasingly, it feels we are in a world where great power rivalry means the strong grab resources and territory and economic might while the rest have to make do."
But Wilson adds: "The only thing stronger and more intimidating than Trump is the US bond market. The interesting element to this is that market volatility may be just what’s required to talk Trump down – the bond market getting a bit ‘yippy’, as Trump put it, last year helped to persuade the president to backtrack on some of the more aggressive elements of his tariff programme."
8.32am: LSE rules loosened this week
This week, the new UK Prospectus Regime came into effect, making it easier and quicker for companies to raise capital.
Under the Public Offers and Admissions to Trading Regulations 2024 (POATR 2024), retail investors should find it easier to invest as part of corporate fundraisings, stock market IPOs, and corporate bond offers.
For IPOs, the new rules have cut short the public offer period for retail investors from six to three days, while any existing listed companies that are looking to raise money can now raise up to 75% of their existing share capital without having to publish a prospectus (up from 20%), with a previous €8 million cap for retail investor involvement is removed.
Bloomberg also reported yesterday that the London Stock Exchange Group's index provider, FTSE Russell, is in discussions about reducing free float requirements for foreign domiciled companies listing in London from 25% to 10%.
This would be designed to put international companies on an equal footing with UK businesses to join stock indexes like the FTSE 100 and 250.
Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell, says: "The new rules could encourage more companies to raise money on capital markets to support their growth plans. Easier access to fundraisings could also help to broaden companies’ shareholder base and be a stepping stone for retail investors to become more active with their ISA and pension portfolios.
"This potential uplift in activity chimes with efforts by the government to encourage more people to invest. Chancellor Rachel Reeves is keen for people to stop hoarding money in cash savings accounts as history suggests investing can deliver better returns over the long term."
Jonathan Parry, partner at law firm White & Case, says the reports of a tweak to the listings requirements for index inclusion "would be another positive step for London, building on a raft of regulatory changes enacted by the FCA and LSE that have levelled the playing field with other leading listing venues and strengthened London’s competitiveness".
He says index inclusion is "one of the key considerations for companies when choosing a listing venue, so reducing free-float requirements for foreign-domiciled issuers could therefore materially enhance London’s appeal to international businesses".
8.15am: FTSE starts slightly higher
The FTSE 100 has started tentatively on the front foot for the first time this week, up three points at 10,130 so far.
Burberry is leading the way, up 4.3%, after a further encouraging update.
Miners are also providing important support for the index, with gold miner Endeavour, along with industrial metals focused Rio Tinto and Anglo American up 3.4% and 2.8%.
8am: Burberry does well from coats and scarves
Burberry Group PLC (LSE:BRBY) is showing off a further improvement in sales growth for the past quarter, supported by solid performances across all regions and continued demand for coats and scarves.
Comparable store sales were up 3% in the 13 weeks to 27 December, its third quarter, improving from 2% in the second and a 1% decline in the first.
The fashion house said it delivered "a higher quality of revenue" with a shorter, more discreet markdown period compared to the prior year.
Growth in Greater China accelerated to 6%, while Asia Pacific was up 5%, supported by a 13% increase in South Korea and growing engagement with Gen Z consumers, helped by festive 'activations' and visual merchandising enhancements, including the rollout of 'scarf bars'.
7.45am: JD Sports reports lower Christmas sales
JD Sports Fashion PLC (LSE:JD., OTC:JDSPY) has kept its full-year profit guidance unchanged as it reported mixed sales during the peak Christmas period, where it was forced into price investments in what it called a volatile consumer backdrop.
The retailer posted an update showing organic sales growth of 1.4% for the nine weeks to 3 January 2026, while like-for-like sales declined 1.8%, a slight worsening from the 1.7% LFL fall in the third quarter.
Sales were mixed across regions, with a notable improvement in North America, now the UK group's largest market, where LFL sales returned to growth at 1.5%, compared to a regional decline of 1.7% in Q3.
This helped offset weaker performance in the UK and Europe, which saw LFL declines of 5.3% and 3.4% respectively.
7.39am: Inflation should come down sharply this year, unless...geopolitics
Higher tobacco duties, airfares and food prices were behind the rise in inflation to 3.4% last month, points out Thomas Pugh, chief economist at RSM UK.
Climbing from 3.2% in November, CPI was slightly below the Bank of England forecast for December, but Pugh says "that won’t be enough to tempt the MPC into cutting interest rates again next month".
Overall, services inflation, which Pugh says is a better measure of domestically generated inflation, ticked up slightly, to 4.5% and core inflation remained at 3.2%.
Given these numbers, he thinks the Bank's monetary policy committee "will be happy to sit on their hands until April", once he expects inflation to have slowed sharply and the wage growth to have cooled further.
Looking ahead, CPI should take a step down to 3% in January, he says, before dropping to around 2% in the second quarter as positive base effects feed in and policy measures announced in the last budget to lower energy prices take effect.
"However, given almost all the survey measures of prices suggest disinflation has slowed, the MPC will be cautious this year, even as headline inflation drops. That means the cut we expect in April may well be the last one this year."
The major risk to the inflation outlook comes from geopolitics, he adds, with the price of oil is up almost 10% so far this year due to events in the Middle East, "while the prospect of the UK and Europe imposing their own tariffs on the US if US tariffs over Greenland go ahead would risk goods inflation going significantly higher than we currently expect".
7.16am: FTSE 100 called higher, UK inflation rebounds
The FTSE 100 has been called slightly higher on Wednesday morning, as fresh figures are published showing UK inflation reared back up last month.
On the futures market, the London index is up eight points after falling almost 70 points yesterday to close at 10,126.78.
Overnight, US stocks fell as they reopened after a long weekend and caught up with falls around global markets in reaction to Donald Trump's new tariff threats over Greenland.
The Dow Jones lost over 870 points or 1.8%, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq tumbled 2.1% and 2.4% respectively.
Asian markets are mostly lower this morning, with the Nikkei down 0.4% in Tokyo and Sensex down 0.3% in Mumbai, but Hong Kong's Hang Seng up 0.1%.
Back to UK inflation, the Office for National Statistics has revealed that the consumer price index in December was up 3.4% on a year ago, rising from 3.2% in November, higher than the 3.3% expected.
On a monthly basis CPI was up 0.4%, as expected, having fallen 0.2% in Novemnber.
Core CPI, which excludes fuel, food and other volatile prices, remained at 3.2%, while services CPI rose to 4.5% from 4.4%, below the 4.6% consensus forecast.