Closing post
Time to wrap up…
The International Monetary Fund has warned that AI services such as Claude Mythos could threaten financial stability. In a new blogpost, the IMF says “Mythos could find and exploit vulnerabilities in every major operating system and web browser—even when used by non-experts”.
AI has also been blamed for a rise in job cuts in the US last month.
Oil has hit its lowest level in over two weeks, on hope that the US and Iran are inching towards a peace agreement. Brent crude is trading around $98 a barrel, having dropped as low as $96.03 a barrel this morning.
The Middle East conflict has helped to push up profits at Shell. The energy giant reported better than expected profits of $6.9bn (£5bn) for the first quarter of 2026, angering climate campaigners.
Shares have fallen in London, but the US stock market has hit a new all-time high.
Output across the UK’s construction output tumbled last month, as the Middle East war hit confidence and drove up prices.
Norway’s central bank has raised interest rates to combat rising inflation, while rates remained on hold in Sweden.
FTSE 100 closes in the red
Britain’s FTSE 100 share index has closed down 1.55%, wiping out around three quarters of yesterday’s rally.
The blue-chip share index has dropped by 162 points to finish at 10,276 points.
Top fallers included Centrica (-5.15%), which said this morning that earnings in its British Gas operations will be towards the lower end of guidance, and weapons maker BAE Systems (-4.7%).
