- FTSE 100 down 53 points to 10,154
- US dollar rallies after fall to 4-yr low
- Gold hits $5,300 an ounce
4.57pm: Gold hits new high
As stocks and the US dollar pulled back, with the FTSE 100 closing down 53 points at 10,154, gold surged to new highs about $5,300.
“Those hoping for a quiet day ahead of tech earnings and the Fed decision have been disappointed. Investors are digesting the ramifications of Trump’s decision to give the dollar a shove lower,” IG chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp said.
“For gold bugs the news is manna from heaven, promising the breaking of more records in the weeks to come.”
3.58pm: FTSE remains soggy
The UK blue-chip index remains underwater, while the mid-cap FTSE 250 has sailed just above.
Exporters remain the main fallers on the Footsie, led by the likes of Burberry, Smiths, Halma, AstraZeneca and Rolls-Royce.
Bond-adjacent stocks such as utilities and insurers, gold miner Endeavour and domestic retailers like M&S are topping the leaderboard.
A weaker US currency is a headwind for a large contingent of exporters in the London benchmark which derive their revenue from across the Atlantic.
The other side of the coin is that the fall in the pound today has sent them lower, and continued to provide support to dollar-denominated gold.
3.35pm: US market thoughts
A preview of the Mag 7 triple-header, from Joe Mazzola, strategist at Charles Schwab.
Microsoft, Meta and Tesla report after the close, which he says will be "keeping focus on data centers, the cloud, and AI spending".
Collectively, Mazzola notes that Mag 7 profits are projected to grow by nearly 17%, which makes this "the most important stretch of earnings season so far" and if we see strong numbers that don't lift share prices this "could signal fading enthusiasm for AI leaders".
The Federal Reserve decision will be at 2pm ET (7pm UK) followed by Chairman Jerome Powell's press conference.
"The real drama is likely to be at the press conference where Powell will no doubt be questioned about the administration's actions against him and Fed Governor Lisa Cook," says Mazzola's fixed-income focused colleague Kathy Jones.
"The attacks on Fed members raises the issue of whether policy makers can continue to do their jobs without political interference. How Powell responds to those questions will probably be the highlight of the day."
On Amazon's layoffs Mazzola notes that UPS said it's eliminating another 30,000 operational jobs as it shifts away from its reliance on Amazon and steers toward what it believes are more profitable deliveries, following 48,000 jobs cuts last year.
He notes that Nvidia shares rose 2% early on news that China's government had given several domestic companies permission to buy Nvidia's H200 AI chips.
Texas Instruments and Seagate climbed strongly after overnight earnings. For Texas this was despite earnings per share coming in slightly below consensus and revenue roughly matching estimates. "Investors seemed enthused over strong guidance for the current quarter."
Starbucks steamed up more 3.8% despite missing on earnings, but with same-store sales climbing and transactions up.
3.13pm: Tethered to gold
A fascinating little angle on the gold story from Bloomberg came out today, about how Tether Holdings, the parent company behind the USDT stablecoin, is managing what is amassed what is world’s largest known hoard of gold bullion outside of banks and nation states.
"There are roughly 370,000 nuclear bunkers in Switzerland, a legacy of the Cold War that are now rarely used. One of them, though, is a hive of activity," the article begins.
"Every week, more than a ton of gold is hauled in to the high-security vault, owned by crypto giant Tether".
Last September, the stablecoin company was said to be storing around $8.7 billion of bullion in Switzerland, partly to use as collateral for its USDT token, alongside large holdings of US Treasuries.
But Tether has also broadened its investments, with a stake in Italian football club Juventus, and was holding talks with gold mining companies.
Bloomberg now says Tether scooped up over 70 tonnes of bullion last year, a pace that outstripped nearly every sovereign stacker except Poland and now holds around 140 tonnes, worth roughly $24 billion.
The report suggests Tether's Paolo Ardoino, who owns around 20% of the company, likes gold as the safest of havens, especially when the world is "going towards darkness".
The company is already issuing a gold-backed token, XAUT, and now it wants to go head-to-head with the big banks in trading too, the report says, with a plan to build the "best trading floor for gold in the world".
2.35pm: US benchmark passes milestone
US stocks have started mostly in the green.
The S&P 500 climbed 0.3% to crack the 7,000 milestone for the first time.
Ahead of it, the Nasdaq has added 0.4% in initial trades, and the Dow Jones is up 0.2%.
JUST IN:
The S&P 500 Index just crossed over 7,000 for the FIRST TIME EVER
???????????????????????????? pic.twitter.com/qTeZvIFFjv
— Evan (@StockMKTNewz) January 28, 2026
1.17pm: Google faces new UK rules for consumers and website owners
The Competition and Markets Authority has proposed sweeping new rules to curb Google’s dominance in search, including a requirement to let websites opt out of powering AI-generated summaries without disappearing from results entirely.
The CMA’s draft conduct rules, the first under new digital markets powers, also aim to prevent the Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) company from unfairly prioritising advertisers or punishing critics, and mandate more transparent ranking processes.
Publishers would gain control over whether their content is used in AI training, while consumers would see choice screens on Android and Chrome to encourage switching.
The measures respond to long-running complaints from media groups about falling traffic and opaque practices.
Sarah Cardell, Chief Executive of the CMA, said: "Today is an important milestone as we consult on the first conduct requirements under the digital markets competition regime in the UK.
"These targeted and proportionate actions would give UK businesses and consumers more choice and control over how they interact with Google’s search services - as well as unlocking greater opportunities for innovation across the UK tech sector and broader economy. They would also provide a fairer deal for content publishers, particularly news organisations, over how their content is used in Google’s AI Overviews."
A public consultation runs until 25 February, with binding rules potentially in place later this year.
12.48pm: BoE preview
The pound is likely to be "entirely at the mercy of the dollar for at least the next week or so", says market analyst Matthew Ryanat Ebury, after sterling's gains of around 3% in less than a week.
"Domestic news in the UK, namely expectations for Bank of England rates and the brewing civil war within the Labour Party, are currently being completely overshadowed by headlines elsewhere.
"There won’t be any additional tier-1 economic reports out of the UK between now and the February MPC meeting on 5th February, so there will unlikely be anything to derail expectations for a pause in the cutting cycle and communications that hint at a wait-and-see stance."
At the BoE's monetary policy committee meeting next week, interest rates are likely to be steady at 3.75%, says UBS economist Anna Titareva, though another tight vote looks likely as the case for easing builds.
After December’s narrow 5-4 vote in favour of a cut, Titareva reckons Governor Andrew Bailey and key deputy governors are likely to vote for a hold, swayed by still-elevated wage pressures and a lack of cracks in the jobs market.
But she now expect two cuts this year, in March and June, saying that risk is "skewed towards more cuts".
By March, the MPC will have the January inflation print, which is expected to show "the first significant step down in inflation", she says, with June's meeting predicted to see a cut to a 3.25% "terminal rate", ie this is the end of the cutting cycle.
However, Titareva says "the risks to our terminal rate forecast as skewed to the downside", ie the Bank could cut to below 3.25%.
12.20pm: Wall Street seen mixed
US stocks are set for a mixed start today.
Dow Jones futures are flat, while Nasdaq futures are up 0.85%. The S&P 500 is seen opening up 0.3% higher, rising to new heights after finishing at a record high last night.
As a reminder, the Federal Reserve announces its latest interest rate decision later on, with three of the 'Magnificent Seven' reporting earnings after the Wall Street closing bell, Microsoft, Meta Platforms and Tesla.
11.47am: SpaceX eyeing June IPO
Shares in Scottish Mortgage are up 1.3% on reports that SpaceX is eyeing a June IPO at a £1.5 trillion valuation.
Another trust with a stake, Schiehallion Fund, is up 1.2%, while SpaceX backers such as Edinburgh Worldwide and Baillie Gifford US are little moved.
The reported $50 billion raise would be the largest ever IPO fundraise, dwarfing Saudi Aramco’s $29 billion haul in 2019, albeit still falling short of the oil giant’s $1.7 trillion valuation.
10.57am: European stocks in the red
The FTSE 100 has continued to ebb slightly, as have mainland European stock market benchmarks.
Burberry, GSK, AstraZeneca, Airtel Africa, Informa, Smiths Group and Experian are leading the fallers.
Heavyweights HSBC, Astra, GSK, NatWest and Antofagasta are all down more than 1%, while oilers Shell and BP are among those providing some support.
"Looks like FX volatility is back," says market analyst Neil Wilson at Saxo, with the US dollar sinking to multi-year lows as President Trump said "the dollar’s doing great" and that he could make it "go up or go down like a yo-yo", while complaining about China and Japan devaluing their currency.
Wilson says the market took this "as a cue to sell the buck further", noting that Trump tried to talk down the dollar in his first term as President.
"If no one else believes in the strong dollar any more, then why seek to argue for a strong dollar policy?
"There are risks to this of course and big market swings and dislocations. We await to see if the administration seeks to walk it back - a weaker dollar should mean higher inflation for US consumers."
After sterling rallied north of $1.3866, its highest in more than four years, it has trimmed gains to trade just under $1.380 this morning, with the Swiss franc – "the only real haven apart from gold" – has also stepped back after rallying to its best in more than a decade.
"Are we really in a world where all anyone wants is stocks, gold and the Swiss franc," asks Wilson.
"Maybe that’s a more normal world than we got used to since the 1980s? Certainly, there does seem to be a reassessment of the dollar and this latest signal that Washington is happy to see it weaken is being taken at its word.
"And it reinforces the idea that the Fed is going to pursue easier monetary policy to please the administration."
Last night, President Trump posted on Truth Social that he "will announce Fed chair soon; interest rates will come down after new Fed chair".
10.32am: REIT discounts
The bid by British Land for Life Science REIT is the latest in a series of deals in the sector, notes AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.
He also points out that banks and gold miners also used to trade at discounts to book value per share but have seen share prices rocket, "so it will be interesting to see if investors turn their attention to another sector where valuations look very depressed, namely real estate", where many leading names trade at discounts to book value.
The agreed British Land offer represents a 21% premium to Life Science’s closing price on Tuesday, but also represents a 35% discount to the target’s last stated NAV per share of 66p.
"In this respect, British Land may be getting a bargain. It will therefore be interesting to see if shareholders decide to hang on for a higher offer, either from British Land or a rival suitor, or if this putative transaction flushes out further takeover deals in the bedraggled real estate sector."
Mould notes that real estate stocks have been out of favour as brick-and-mortar retailers have lost market share to online rivals, hybrid working has lessened demand for offices and there are worries over the wider economy and impact of AI.
He highlights discounts in the REITs sector range from 8% at Hammerson PLC (LSE:HMSO) to 11.5% for Tritax Big Box REIT PLC (LSE:BBOX) and 17% for SEGRO PLC (LSE:SGRO), up to 25%-plus for British Land, Land Securities Group PLC (LSE:LAND) and Great Portland Estates (LSE:GPOR); 30%-plus for Shaftesbury Capital PLC (LSE:SHB), Grainger Plc (LSE:GRI), Derwent London PLC (AIM:DLN); 40%-plus for Unite Group PLC (LSE:UTG) and Workspace Group PLC (LSE:WKP); and 50% for Town Centre Securities PLC (LSE:TOWN).
9.27am: Ad rulings against Coinbase, easyJet and Tui
A series of adverts from Coinbase Global Inc (NASDAQ:COIN), which is advised by former Chancellor George Osborne, have been banned by the UK Advertising Stanmdards Association for suggesting its services could be a solution to the cost of living crisis.
One video ad featured "several working adults singing a satirical, upbeat song about difficulties and concerns in their everyday lives, such as being unable to own their home, increases in the cost of living, and losing their job. In spite of each concern, they danced cheerily and sang 'everything is just fine'," the ASA ruling noted.
The video and associated posters all featured the phrase “If everything’s fine, don’t change anything”, accompanied by references to various common financial issues, such as the rise in the cost of living and difficulties associated with buying your own home.
The body received complaints from 35 people, who challenged whether the ads were "irresponsible because they trivialised the risks of cryptocurrency and implied it was a solution to prevalent financial concerns".
While the ASA acknowledged that ads were satirical, it ruled they were "irresponsible because they used humour to frame cryptocurrency as an easy answer to real cost-of-living pressures, trivialising the risks of a high‑risk investment to a broad and potentially vulnerable audience".
The ASA also upheld a ruling against easyJet PLC (LSE:EZJ) after a challenge from consumer protection group Which? over whether its website's claim of bag fees “from £5.99” was misleading and could be substantiated, and another against TUI AG (LSE:TUI) after a travel journalist booking flights to Las Vegas found an offer price had risen by over £700 during the checkout process due to increased prices a third-party airline.
9.08am: FTSE dragged down
After just over an hour of trading, the FTSE has stumbled into the red, down 15 points at 10,194.
Big names such as HSBC, AstraZeneca, GSK, Unilever and RELX are dragging.
Drugmakers AZ and GSK, in particular, are down 1.8% and 2.2% respectively.
Market analyst Richard Hunter at Interactive Investor says: "Names with a larger proportion of US earnings such as GSK and to a lesser extent Burberry faltered, with the latter also reacting to a read across from some disappointing earnings from French luxury group LVMH."
US dollar weakness is the "central theme" for the week, Hunter adds, with comments from President Trump suggesting that he is comfortable with a weaker greenback.
With the Swiss franc hitting a 10-year high against the dollar and the euro climbing over €1.20 for the first time since 2021, the possibility of yen intervention has "piled on renewed dollar selling, alongside the current concerns of geopolitics, a potential government shutdown and an enduring round of trade wars", says Hunter.
Both the pound, having been near a five-year high, and euro are down 0.5% against the dollar this morning though, at $1.3779 and $1.1976 respectively.
Gold hit $5,300 in the past hour, which is not surprising, says Hunter, as the metal has an inverse relationship to the dollar.
"The precious metal has doubled since the beginning of last year. Some investors have also pointed out some evidence of national pension funds hedging their dollar exposure while maintaining their holdings in underlying US securities.
"This partially explains why markets have continued to prosper despite the currency weakness, and indeed the S&P500 hit yet another record closing high yesterday."
8.32am: Boohoo mostly encouraging
Boohoo/Debenhams shares are up 7% after the update this morning.
Analyst John Stevenson at Peel Hunt says the decision not to sell PLT is probably as much to do with the brand’s turnaround and material improvement in profitability as a lack of suitors willing to pay a market value.
"There is still a lot of heavy lifting going on, with significant reduction in stock and fixed costs.
"The group is not yet FCF-positive, but it is forecast to be so in FY27, although there remains substantial headroom to see the process through, along with the sale of the Burnley freehold."
Katie Cousins at Shore Capital says she sees it as "a good update", and exploring ways to improve the balance sheet is "sensible, to us, and we look forward to hearing more details in March".
"Despite this, we continue to have concerns around top-line declines and look for an indication of when this should stabilise."
8.15am: Commodities stocks send FTSE higher at open
The FTSE 100 has opened modestly higher, defying the futures market predictions, up 9 points to 10,216.5.
Precious metals and other miners are, probably unsurprisingly, top of the early leaderboard.
Endeavour Mining PLC is up 3.5%, followed by Anglo American's 2.6% gain and a 1.6% move for Antofagasta.
They are split by retailer Marks & Spencer Group, followed by engineer Spirax.
Oil giants Shell and BP are doing some heavy lifting too, with the pair both up over 1%.
7.59am: REIT deal
British Land Company PLC (LSE:BLND) has agreed a £150 million cash and share offer for Life Science REIT PLC (AIM:LABS).
LABS shareholders will receive 14.1p in cash and 0.07 new British Land shares for each share they own.
Based on British Land’s closing price of 410p on Tuesday, this implies a total value of 42.8p per LABS share, representing a 21% premium to the previous closing price and a 15% premium to the three-month average.
British Land said the acquisition is "immediately earnings accretive from synergies alone", is neutral on a net tangible asset basis, and has "scope for further significant earnings growth" from the lease-up of new space.
LABS chair Claire Boyle said the board believes the deal "will provide a superior outcome" to the managed wind-down process it had been planning, even if the offer represents a discount to net assets.
7.43am: Boohoo/Debenhams hikes profit target
Boohoo Group PLC (AIM:DEBS), the online retailer trading as Debenhams, has raised its profit expectations for the year to February after enjoying further good trading in the festive period.
The AIM-listed group said it now expects adjusted EBITDA for the year to end-February 2026 to be £50 million, ahead of previous guidance of approximately £45 million given at its interim results.
The company said the upgrade reflects "continued momentum" in the Debenhams brand, a "discernible improvement" in the performance of its youth brands such as Boohoo, PrettyLittleThing (PLT) and Nasty Gal, and accelerated progress on its transformation plan.
7.28am: US dollar weakness supporting gold's ascent
The most significant and impactful story in markets this week is the sharp sell-off in the US dollar, says market analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya at Swissquote Bank, with the US dollar index sinking to a four-year low.
This is what is continuing to drive gold and silver to fresh record highs this morning, she says.
"Trade and geopolitical uncertainty, tied to an increasingly unreliable American friend and ally, as well as growing concerns about what will happen to the Federal Reserve’s credibility once Jerome Powell leaves office (it will fly out of the window), continue to weigh on the US dollar.
"Add to that the latest US consumer survey, which showed a sharp drop in consumer confidence...You get a pretty murky picture for the greenback and the two-speed US economy."
She says a big comfort is that US inflation has not surged as a result of tariffs, though that was partly because importers built up stockpiles to buy time and because only around 20% of announced tariff threats have actually been implemented since November 2024, according to Bloomberg.
In the week of big tech earnings, ASML, Europe’s largest technology company and the world’s sole supplier of advanced chip-making machines, reported earnings this morning.
Results were a slight beat on revenues and profit, Ozkardeskaya observes, but with a "significant upside surprise" on bookings.
Order intake reached around €13.2 billion, roughly double expectations, underlining strong forward demand.
7.18am: FTSE facing slow start
The FTSE 100 is predicted to get off to a slow start on Wednesday, while the price of gold continues to outperform the stock market and reach new heights.
On the futures market, the UK equity index has been called five points lower, after yesterday gaining almost 59 points to close at 10,207.80, within touching distance of recent record highs.
Gold, meanwhile, is on another tear. After hitting $5,000 an ounce on Monday, the precious metal topped $5,150/oz overnight and in recent minutes topped $5,280, up 1.9% on the day and 21.75% for the month. Silver is up 2.4% at $117.8/oz too.
Overnight, US markets were uneven, with the Dow Jones 0.8%, dragged down by a sharp fall for giant insurer UnitedHealth.
Optimism about Big Tech earnings in the coming days, saw the Nasdaq add 0.9% and the S&P 500 climbed 0.4% to a fresh record at 6,978.
Asian markets are bathed in green this morning, mostly small moves, apart from Hoinbg Kong's Hang Seng gaining 2.5%.
Later today, three of the 'Magnificent Seven' report earnings -- Microsoft, Meta Platforms and Tesla -- and before that, the Federal Reserve announces its latest interest rate decision.
Today also sees UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer arrive in Beijing, aiming to, as Bloomberg puts it, "broaden trade ties with China without annoying President Trump".