The dollar index held broadly steady on Thursday, as a fragile ceasefire between the US and Iran kept investor sentiment cautious. Reports that oil tanker transit through the Strait of Hormuz remains constrained, alongside some ongoing tensions in the Middle East, have kept markets on edge.
Drivers will feel some short-term relief as petrol and diesel prices edge lower, and markets are reacting strongly to the pause. But oil remains elevated, and that continues to feed through the entire economy, into prices, business costs and investment decisions.
OpenAI's spokesperson stated, 'We see huge potential for the UK's AI future. We continue to explore Stargate UK and will move forward when the right conditions such as regulation and the cost of energy enable long-term infrastructure investment.'
The study concludes that the rail link could deliver strong economic returns under both two-runway and three-runway expansion scenarios at Heathrow Airport, indicating its potential impact on regional connectivity.
Changes to the UK's IR35 tax legislation will redraw the lines of responsibility between businesses and the freelancers they engage, promising relief for many companies that previously bore the compliance burden.
FirstRand has criticized the regulator's intervention into the car finance market as 'disproportionate and unfair', warning that it will now be forced to pay out as much as £750 million to motorists who were mis-sold finance deals.
Additionally, profitability declined at a sharp rate over Q4. The falls in business volumes and profitability are likely to have contributed to a deterioration in firms' sentiment in the three months to December. The quarterly survey, conducted between 20 November and 9 December 2025, also found that FS firms expect trading conditions to improve somewhat in Q1 2026, with volumes and profitability growth set to recover.
More than nine in 10 (91%) private business owners surveyed in London are confident about growth in 2026, according to KPMG's annual Private Enterprise Barometer, up 4 percentage points on the UK average of 87%. The annual survey captured the perspectives of 1,500 privately owned businesses, including 164 in London, from across various industries including professional services, finance, technology, industrial manufacturing and retail.
The economy continued to grow slowly in the last three months of the year, with the growth rate unchanged from the previous quarter. The often-dominant services sector showed no growth, with the main driver instead coming from manufacturing. Construction, meanwhile, registered its worst performance in more than four years. The rate of growth across 2025 as a whole was up slightly on the previous year, with growth seen in all main sectors.
