Morning, I’m Louise Moon from Bloomberg UK’s breaking news team, bringing you up to speed on today’s top business stories. Stocks are rallying after the US and Iran agreed a two-week ceasefire just hours before President Donald Trump’s deadline. The de-escalation — even if it proves temporary — is all anyone is focused on. The FTSE 100 gained as much as 3%, and the FTSE 250 as much as 3.8%. For bo...
Morning, I’m Louise Moon from Bloomberg UK’s breaking news team, bringing you up to speed on today’s top business stories. Stocks are rallying after the US and Iran agreed a two-week ceasefire just hours before President Donald Trump’s deadline. The de-escalation — even if it proves temporary — is all anyone is focused on. The FTSE 100 gained as much as 3%, and the FTSE 250 as much as 3.8%. For both, that’s the most since the tariff chaos that gripped markets a year ago. The pound rose against the dollar, gilts are rising and yields plunging. The moves are being mirrored across Europe. Traders have pared bets on both the Bank of England and the European Central Bank hiking interest rates this year. Taking a look some key London stocks, Rolls-Royce shot up 11%, alongside Barclays and Lloyds . Airline stocks also surged, while oil majors BP and Shell fell. It’s worth bearing in mind that nothing is certain, but it gives investors some respite from the recent turbulence. As Bloomberg Opinion’s John Authers writes : a civilisation doesn’t die and markets go up. What’s your take? Ping me on X , LinkedIn or drop me an email at lmoon13@bloomberg.net. Oh, and do subscribe to Bloomberg.com for unlimited access to trusted business journalism on the UK, and beyond. What We’re Watching Shell posted “significantly higher” oil trading in the first quarter, in the first bit of guidance from Big Oil since the Iran war broke out. That’s even as its Middle East assets were battered by the conflict. More on the oil market from my colleague Kit below. London fintech Revolut is expanding across the Channel, having signed a 10-year lease in Paris as its new Western European headquarters . The neobank has already pledged to invest €1 billion over the next three years in France, one of its largest growth markets, and is working on getting a licence there. Lender Close Brothers reckons it can handle costs related to the car loan saga, after short-seller Viceroy Research claimed its provisio...
The head of a body representing global airlines said on Wednesday that even if Iran reopened the Strait of Hormuz, it would take months for jet fuel supply to recover given disruptions to Middle East refining capacity. Oil fell below US$100 per barrel after US President Donald Trump said he had agreed to a two-week ceasefire with Iran that was subject to the immediate and safe reopening of the St...
The head of a body representing global airlines said on Wednesday that even if Iran reopened the Strait of Hormuz, it would take months for jet fuel supply to recover given disruptions to Middle East refining capacity. Oil fell below US$100 per barrel after US President Donald Trump said he had agreed to a two-week ceasefire with Iran that was subject to the immediate and safe reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, which normally carries about a fifth of the world’s oil trade. Iranian Foreign...
Cars lining up for petrol in Shaoxing, Zhejiang on April 7, 2026. Photo: VCG China moved for a second time to cushion consumers from the global oil shock triggered by the U.S.-Iran war, halving the size of a scheduled domestic fuel-price increase even as crude markets remained volatile. The National Development and Reform Commission said on Tuesday that gasoline and diesel prices would rise from m...
Cars lining up for petrol in Shaoxing, Zhejiang on April 7, 2026. Photo: VCG China moved for a second time to cushion consumers from the global oil shock triggered by the U.S.-Iran war, halving the size of a scheduled domestic fuel-price increase even as crude markets remained volatile. The National Development and Reform Commission said on Tuesday that gasoline and diesel prices would rise from midnight by 420 yuan and 400 yuan a metric ton, respectively, well below the increases of 800 yuan and 770 yuan that would have been triggered under China’s normal pricing formula.
Insight with Haslinda Amin, a daily news program featuring in-depth, high-profile interviews and analysis to give viewers the complete picture on the stories that matter. The show features prominent leaders spanning the worlds of business, finance, politics and culture. (Source: Bloomberg)
Insight with Haslinda Amin, a daily news program featuring in-depth, high-profile interviews and analysis to give viewers the complete picture on the stories that matter. The show features prominent leaders spanning the worlds of business, finance, politics and culture. (Source: Bloomberg)
Jonathan Kitchen Zhipu has increased the price of access to its most advanced AI model by at least 8%, joining other leading Chinese AI firms in seeking returns on years of research and heavy computing investment. The Beijing-headquartered company released its latest open source model GLM-5.1 this week, according to reports. It set prices for cloud-based usage — for instance, input tokens—between ...
Jonathan Kitchen Zhipu has increased the price of access to its most advanced AI model by at least 8%, joining other leading Chinese AI firms in seeking returns on years of research and heavy computing investment. The Beijing-headquartered company released its latest open source model GLM-5.1 this week, according to reports. It set prices for cloud-based usage — for instance, input tokens—between 8% and 17% higher roughly than for its older GLM-5 Turbo, according to official pricing on OpenRouter. That’s at least the second time the company, which debuted in Hong Kong in January, has raised prices for users in 2026, Bloomberg reported. One of the leading players in China's crowded artificial intelligence sector, Zhipu AI , reported revenue growth of 132% for 2025 in its first results update since raising HK$4.35 billion ($554.9 million) in a January listing. It's also a primary competitor to OpenAI ( OPENAI ) More on KraneShares CSI China Internet ETF, iShares MSCI China Multisector Tech ETF, etc. KWEB: Legacy Businesses Take Time To Phase-Out KWEB: Almost So Bad, It's Good, Where To Dip Your Toe CQQQ: A Strong Run, But No Case For Fresh Money Asian markets surge as Trump’s 'double-sided ceasefire' reopens Strait of Hormuz Asia markets muted amid uncertainty as Trump’s Iran infrastructure deadline looms
M. Suhail/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Thesis I don’t like dividends. Companies giving me money? Terrible. I’m being a bit tongue-in-cheek here, of course, but there are times when I believe even income-focused stocks should deemphasize dividends, at least for a limited time, to focus on the primary business. I’m more wary of stock buybacks and tend to view them as management struggling to co...
M. Suhail/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Thesis I don’t like dividends. Companies giving me money? Terrible. I’m being a bit tongue-in-cheek here, of course, but there are times when I believe even income-focused stocks should deemphasize dividends, at least for a limited time, to focus on the primary business. I’m more wary of stock buybacks and tend to view them as management struggling to come up with good ideas. I’m mentioning all of this because I believe Wendy’s ( WEN ) is fundamentally rather attractive right now, and if the leadership goes all in on executing a business (rather than stock) turnaround, I’d likely upgrade my rating from a hold to a buy. Wendy's has historically been rather focused on rewarding shareholders, however, so I want to see sustained resistance to near-term increases (or better yet, decreases) in said rewards. I previously rated WEN as a hold back in early November, when share prices were about $8.50. Share prices have dropped below $7 in recent days, and WEN looks more attractive now, but I can’t quite get over the line to buy just yet. I previously took a look at WEN’s cash buybacks, and today I want to take a closer look at the high dividend payouts as well. Wendy’s does appear to have paused stock buybacks, with no new purchases in Q4 2025 or so far this year. They have also cut dividend payments from $1 in 2024 to 67 cents in 2025 and are expected to pay out 56 cents in 2026. This is still a bit too high for me given Wendy’s rather urgent need to execute a business turnaround. If Wendy's were to further trim its dividend, it'd push me even closer (and possibly into buy territory). Further, if Wendy's management team ruled out near-term future stock buybacks, that would also push me closer to buy territory. As for the turnaround story, I do like the emerging pivot toward value, which has paid off for McDonald’s ( MCD ) and other restaurants, like Brinker International's Chili's chain ( EAT ). If WEN pivots from its investor rew...
Scorpio Tankers ( STNG ) announced pricing of a private offering of $325M of 1.75% convertible senior notes due in 2031. This amount is an increase from the initially planned $300M. The company also allowed the initial purchasers to buy an additional $50M of notes during a 13-day period after issuance. Alongside the offering, the company will repurchase about 1.34M shares of its common stock from ...
Scorpio Tankers ( STNG ) announced pricing of a private offering of $325M of 1.75% convertible senior notes due in 2031. This amount is an increase from the initially planned $300M. The company also allowed the initial purchasers to buy an additional $50M of notes during a 13-day period after issuance. Alongside the offering, the company will repurchase about 1.34M shares of its common stock from the note purchasers at a price of $74.36 per share, based on the last reported sale price on April 7, 2026. The offering is expected to close on April 10, 2026. The notes will mature on April 15, 2031, and will bear 1.75% interest, paid semi-annually starting October 15, 2026. Holders can convert the notes under specific conditions before January 15, 2031, and at any time after that date until just before maturity. The initial conversion rate is 9.9615 shares per $1,000 of notes, with a conversion price of about $100.39 per share, which is 35% above the last reported stock price on April 7, 2026. The notes can be exchanged for cash at the company's choice starting April 20, 2029, under certain conditions, including if the company's common stock price exceeds 130% of the conversion price for a designated time. The company expects to raise around $314.7M from the offering, or about $363.3M if additional notes are fully purchased, after accounting for discounts, commissions, and expenses. It plans to use approximately $100.0M to buy back around 1.34M shares of common stock, with the rest for general corporate use. More on Scorpio Tankers Scorpio Tankers - Looking Closer At 2026E Oil Transportation Scorpio Tankers Inc. (STNG) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript Scorpio Tankers Inc. 2025 Q4 - Results - Earnings Call Presentation Scorpio Tankers announces proposed offering of convertible senior notes Scorpio Tankers to invest $10M in nuclear propulsion venture