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(AWP Alliance News) - The FTSE 100 rallied on Wednesday, led by mining stocks, while gilts steadied as UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer kept a precarious grip on power. The FTSE 100 closed up 60.03 points, 0.6%, at 10,325.35. The FTSE 250 ended up 62.17 points, 0.3%, at 22,528.37, and the AIM All-Share rose 6.55 points, 0.8%, at 817.21. The Cboe UK 100 ended up 0.4% at 1,023.56, the Cboe UK 250 was 0.2% higher at 19,425.04, and the Cboe Small Companies Index ended up 0.5% at 18,354.12. In London, reports suggested Health Secretary Wes Streeting plans to step down and could mount a formal challenge to PM Starmer on Thursday. Streeting confronted his boss over the crisis engulfing Labour as the pair met for crunch talks - which lasted less than 20 minutes - in Downing Street ahead of the King's Speech on Wednesday. According to various reports, Streeting has told allies he is preparing to quit government on Thursday and run for the top job. The pound nudged up to USD1.3520 on Wednesday afternoon from USD1.3505 on Tuesday. Against the euro, sterling was higher at EUR1.1542 from EUR1.1517 on Tuesday. The yield on UK 10-year gilts traded at 5.07%, cooling from 5.10% the day before. Kathleen Brooks research director at XTB said markets 'remain sensitive to all news out of Westminster, and it is hard to see how the PM can stop another coup against him.' JPMorgan analyst Allan Monks said the political developments create significant uncertainty regarding the future leadership of the governing Labour party, and hence the future path of fiscal policy. 'While the odds of a leadership change this year have increased, the precise path and outcome remain hard to judge. One observation relevant for the gilt market is the sheer length of time it could take to gain clarity over the fiscal outlook,' he added. Monks estimates the costs of higher borrowing since March, when the Middle East crisis flared, to be around GBP11 billion, knocking down the government's fiscal headroom to GBP13 billion. Elsewhere, the fragile ceasefire in the Middle East held as US President Donald Trump headed to Beijing for talks with his counterpart Xi Jinping. The International Energy Agency warned that countries were tapping into oil inventories and strategic reserves at a 'record pace', meaning further price volatility was likely. Brent crude for July delivery was trading at USD107.33 a barrel on Wednesday, down compared to USD108.07 at the time of the equities close in London on Tuesday. In Europe on Wednesday, the CAC 40 in Paris ended up 0.4%, and the DAX 40 in Frankfurt advanced 0.8%. In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.4%, the S&P 500 rose 0.2% while the Nasdaq Composite was 0.7% higher. The yield on the US 10-year Treasury widened to 4.50% on Wednesday from 4.46% on Tuesday. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury stretched to 5.05% from 5.02%. The euro traded lower against the greenback, at USD1.1715 on Wednesday from USD1.1729 on Tuesday. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JPY157.81, higher than JPY157.73. Following Tuesday's strong US consumer inflation figures, producer price data also surprised to the upside. The Bureau of Labor Statistics said producer price inflation accelerated to 6.0% in April, from 4.3% in March, the latter revised up from 4.0%. The latest reading, the hottest in over three years, topped the FXStreet cited consensus of 4.9%. Mining stocks propped up the blue-chip FTSE 100 with Antofagasta up 8.7%, Metlen Energy & Metals up 7.2%, Anglo American up 4.5% and Rio Tinto up 4.4% as metals price rose. Fresnillo, up 4.0%, benefited from a strong gold price with the yellow metal trading at USD4,690.487 an ounce on Wednesday, up from USD4,663.87 on Tuesday. Intertek gained 5.3% as it backed the latest takeover tilt from suitor EQT Fund Management Sarl, after rebuffing three prior proposals. EQT's final proposal is worth GBP60 per share in cash, GBP61.077 including a final dividend. Together with the dividend, the tilt values Intertek at GBP9.40 billion. Intertek said it 'remains highly confident' in its standalone strategy and value creation plan. However, it said the EQT offer would 'deliver value in cash to Intertek shareholders'. As a result, it would be 'minded to recommend' it, should a firm offer materialise. Airtel Africa slumped 13% as Bharti Airtel confirmed it will raise its stake, but buy shares at a discount to the prior closing share price. On Monday, shares had shot up 15% after Bharti Airtel - which has a 63% stake in the company - convened a meeting for Wednesday to consider a reorganisation of its subsidiaries' shareholding structure, including Airtel Africa. On the FTSE 250, Vistry was in the doldrums, down 12%, as it warned first half profit will be 'significantly lower than the prior year'. JPMorgan analyst Zaim Beekawa said it 'is a pretty disappointing update given the magnitude of downgrades implied and, particularly, given street numbers have already come down meaningfully.' Elsewhere, recruiters PageGroup and Hays fell 5.6% and 7.4% respectively as Swiss peer Adecco plunged 17% after flagging weaker second quarter margins. While shareholders in Cordel were smiling as its share price doubled after accepting a GBP29 million bid worth 12.4 pence per share from Vossloh. The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Antofagasta, up 345.00p at 4,299.00p, Metlen Energy & Metals, up 2.70p at 40.18p, Intertek Group, up 280.00p at 5,580.00p, Anglo American, up 177.00p at 4,075.00p and Rio Tinto, up 352.00p at 8,272.00p. The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Airtel Africa, down 54.20p at 359.60p, Relx, down 122.00p at 2,333.00p, Experian, down 123.00p at 2,526.00p, Sage Group, down 31.20p at 847.60p and Imperial Brands, down 76.00p at 2,756.00p. Thursday's global economic calendar has UK GDP data at 0700 BST followed by US retail sales figures and the weekly initial jobless claims report. Thursday's local corporate calendar has first quarter results from insurer Aviva and full-year earnings from property investor Land Securities, luxury goods brand Burberry and electricity generator National Grid. By Jeremy Cutler, Alliance News reporter Comments and questions to newsroom@alliancenews.com Copyright 2026 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

(AWP Alliance News) - US crude oil stockpiles fell by 4.3 million barrels in the week ended May 8, the Energy Information Administration reported on Wednesday. This decline was greater than the FXStreet-cited consensus of a 2.1 million decline. The prior week, stockpiles declines by 2.3 million barrels. Crude oil refinery inputs averaged 16.4 million barrels per day during the week, said the EIA, 369,000 barrels per day more than the previous weeks' average. Gasoline production also increased last week, as it rose to 9.8 million barrels per day. US crude oil imports averaged 5.8 million barrels per day last week, up by 424,000 from a week prior. The EIA noted that crude oil imports averaged around 5.8 million barrels per day over the past four weeks, up 1.0% from the same four-week period last year. By Christopher Ward, Alliance News reporter Comments and questions to newsroom@alliancenews.com Copyright 2026 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

(AWP Alliance News) - The US Senate is expected to confirm Kevin Warsh as Federal Reserve chairman on Wednesday, as President Donald Trump applies unprecedented pressure on the central bank to cut rates despite stubbornly high inflation. The Senate will vote at 1400 local time (1800 GMT), with Trump's Republicans holding a slim majority and expected to confirm his nominee to replace Jerome Powell. Once known as a monetary 'hawk,' Warsh has since changed his tune in line with Trump's abrasive push for lower interest rates. The incoming Federal Reserve chair has promised to bring 'regime change' at the central bank, which he has criticized for being too political and communicating too openly on its decision-making processes. But with inflation still above the Fed's long-term two-percent target - and rising over Trump's Iran war - Warsh is unlikely to convince fellow Fed rate-setting committee members to cut immediately. That could lay him open to attacks from Trump, who has relentlessly lashed out at Powell over rate decisions. 'Warsh's biggest challenge will likely be dealing with President Trump,' said David Wessel, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.  'The president does not respect the independence of the Fed and he wants interest rates to be lower.' Trump's campaign of insults against Powell has been viewed by many as part of an unprecedented assault on the central bank's independence. In January, Powell said a Justice Department criminal probe against him over cost overruns related to a building renovation project was intended to create pressure on monetary policy decision making. That followed Trump's separate attempt to oust Fed Governor Lisa Cook from the board. The criminal probe against Powell has since been dropped, as the Trump administration aimed to smooth the path for Warsh's nomination. The Supreme Court is due to rule on the legality of removing Cook. Both moves were 'unprecedented,' said Kathryn Judge, a Columbia law professor who focuses on banking. While Warsh is Trump's pick - as Powell was nine years ago - Judge said there was no reason to believe the pressure will ease. 'Fed officials have been put on notice that this president is willing to use all available tools to bully them into acceding to his demands,' she said. Warsh is taking over as the world's largest economy continues to reel from repeated economic shocks. The pandemic delivered a hammer blow to the Fed's inflation target, with CPI peaking at 9.1% in mid-2022. It has since come down, but US households have been battered by years of higher-than-expected price increases. In April, year-on-year inflation came in at a three-year high of 3.8%, fuelled in part by surging oil prices in the wake of the US-Israel war on Iran. The Fed's other mandate is ensuring maximum employment. The unemployment rate has remained relatively firm at around 4.3%, but the steady number hides churn beneath the surface. Job growth has been weak, see-sawing between expansion and contraction for months, with new jobs mainly driven by the health care sector. The tumult has been partly hidden because there has been a significant drop in labour supply, driven by Trump's deportation drive and an ageing population. The situation has put Fed policymakers in the difficult position of having to choose between dueling mandates: raise interest rates to combat inflation, or cut them to spur growth? It is here that Warsh faces his third major challenge: divisions on the Fed's rate-setting committee on the path forward. At the last meeting, there was a rare outpouring of dissent, with three members declaring that the Fed should indicate a rate hike could be on the cards to combat inflation. 'One of Warsh's challenges is that the Fed does seem divided - at times along partisan lines, which is a change from the past,' said Wessel. Added to that another wrinkle: Powell will be the first outgoing chair in more than 70 years not to leave the board at the expiration of his term as its head.  By Asad Hashim source: AFP Copyright 2026 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.