\u201cThey\u2019re making too much money based on a shortage,\u201d he told reporters at the White House on Monday evening. \u201cI don\u2019t like it.\u201d<\/p>\n
BP has reported its highest quarterly profits since the first year of Russia\u2019s war on Ukraine because of rising oil and gas prices caused by the Middle East crisis.<\/p>\n
The oil company\u2019s quarterly profits more than doubled to $5.73bn (\u00a34.27bn) in the three months to the end of June, up $2.5bn from the quarter before, as the ongoing conflict in the Middle East continued to disrupt energy exports from the Gulf.<\/p>\n
Campaigners have renewed calls for a windfall tax on UK banks that could raise \u00a319bn towards Andy Burnham\u2019s cost of living agenda, after HSBC<\/a> raked in $10.1bn (\u00a37.5bn) worth of profits in the second quarter of the year.<\/p>\n Bosses at HSBC reported on Tuesday that profits rose 60% year on year in the three months to the end of June, helped by fees from wealth management and insurance business, as well as higher interest<\/p>\n Gatwick airport is to start development of its second runway after campaigners lost a legal challenge to the plans.<\/p>\n The court of appeal on Tuesday dismissed a bid by local campaign groups to challenge an earlier high court ruling that the scheme could proceed.<\/p>\n The \u00a32.2bn project, approved by the transport secretary<\/a>, Heidi Alexander, in September, will allow about 100,000 more flights a year to use Britain\u2019s second busiest airport.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Key events<\/p>\n Oil dips below $80<\/p>\n Oil prices dipped below $80 as investors grow increasingly optimistic that the US and Iran could reach a deal in the coming days.<\/p>\n Brent crude, the international benchmark for oil prices, fell below $80, down 4.5% to $79.96 a barrel.<\/p>\n It comes as investors weigh US treasury secretary Scott Bessent\u2019s comment that the US and Iran could announce a deal \u201ctoday or tomorrow\u201d to reopen the strait of Hormuz, a key shipping channel through which a fifth of the world\u2019s oil supply normally passes.<\/p>\n Qatari officials have also said that a potential US-Iran resolution has been drafted. Qatar foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari said efforts to secure a diplomatic resolution to the conflict were continuing, with mediators including Qatar, Pakistan and Oman coordinating closely to facilitate negotiations and exchange draft proposals between the two sides.<\/p>\n In London, shares in BP are now down by more than 4%.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a009.55 EDT<\/p>\n Wall Street hits record high on tech rebound<\/p>\n The S&P 500 has just hit an intraday record high, thanks to a rebound in tech stocks and optimism around a possible deal to end the conflict between the US and Iran.<\/p>\n The blue chip stock index rose 0.4% to 7,630.62, its highest level since June, while the tech heavy Nasdaq is up 0.67%.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Investors are waiting with bated breath ahead of the market open in the US, which closed yesterday within touching distance of a new record high.<\/p>\n Futures for the S&P 500 are up 0.3%, in a sign that the US market is ready to continue its tech-led rally. Shares in Palantir are already up 16% in pre-market trading after it raised its forecasts, while Caterpillar <\/a>is up nearly 12% in pre-market.<\/a><\/p>\n It is a busy day for earnings later too, with SpaceX and Advanced Micro Devices both due to report today.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Global oil inventories low, Aramco warns<\/p>\n Saudi Aramco, the world\u2019s top oil exporter, has warned \u2060that global oil inventories \u200bare low due to disruption triggered by the US-Israeli war with Iran and that refineries around the world are \u201cstretched heavily\u201d.<\/p>\n CEO Amin Nasser told reporters in a call today that the world has lost more than 2.6bn barrels of oil since the war began in February. The lost supply is equivalent to nearly a month of normal global crude production.<\/p>\n He said:<\/p>\n double quotation markIf the strait were to open today, it would take up to 18 months at an average rate of 2.1 million barrels a day to replenish depleted inventories.<\/p>\n He added:<\/p>\n double quotation markThe global refining system is stretched heavily as refineries are operating at near maximum utilisation rates.<\/p>\n This has clearly left the system with little shock absorbers or buffers.<\/p>\n \u2026If refineries were to suffer any major unplanned or prolonged shutdown, the global energy supply system could face more severe pressure.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a009.01 EDT<\/p>\n UK’s mid-cap FTSE 250 hits record high<\/p>\n The UK\u2019s mid-cap FTSE<\/a> 250 stock index has just hit a record high, beating its last peak from 2021.<\/p>\n The index, which has a much stronger domestic focus compared with the bigger FTSE 100, is up 0.7% today. Its best performer today is Travis Perkins \u2013 its shares have shot up almost 20% today after the building materials supplier reported higher first-half profit, despite a subdued construction market in the UK.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Bessent added in his interview with CNBC that the Trump administration will do \u201cwhatever it takes\u201d to \u2060support \u2060Japan\u2019s effort \u200bto stabilise its currency.<\/p>\n Tokyo and Washington confirmed on Monday that they had carried out a rare joint currency intervention late last week, after the yen had weakened to a 40-year low of almost \u00a5164 to the dollar.<\/p>\n Bessent said:<\/p>\n double quotation markWe will \u200bdo \u200cwhatever it \u200ctakes to support \u200cthem in a way that helps the American economy, the American taxpayer.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n When asked whether Iran would be allowed to charge a toll for passage via the strait of Hormuz, Bessent said the deal would allow for \u201cfreedom of movement\u201d, without providing any specific detail.<\/p>\n He said:<\/p>\n double quotation markIt would be freedom of movement. Even though things are still a little dicey there over the past few days, we saw quite a few ships coming out even now.<\/p>\n He added that he expects oil prices to fall further when the strait of Hormuz opens.<\/p>\n double quotation markThere are hundreds if not thousands of ships sitting in there and waiting to go out.<\/p>\n \u2026It\u2019s not just energy. It\u2019s fertiliser, it\u2019s refined products, it is the various industrial gases. We could see a big relief trade as those prices go down.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a008.44 EDT<\/p>\n Deal to reopen strait of Hormuz could come ‘today or tomorrow’, Bessent saysUS Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent attends a meeting between US President Donald J Trump and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 21 July 2026 Photograph: Aaron Schwartz\/EPA<\/p>\n Oil prices are now falling again after the US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said that a deal could be struck \u201ctoday or tomorrow\u201d to reopen the strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n Speaking to CNBC, Bessent said:<\/p>\n double quotation markWe \u200care in talks \u200cwith the Iranians, and I think there is a chance we \u200cmay have a deal today \u200bor tomorrow to open the strait and move \u2060towards a more \u200bnormalised \u200bposition in \u200bthis conflict.<\/p>\n Brent crude, which had been rising earlier today, is now down 3.4% to $80.88 a barrel.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a008.24 EDT<\/p>\n Gatwick airport is to start development of its second runway after campaigners lost a legal challenge to the plans.<\/p>\n The court of appeal on Tuesday dismissed a bid by local campaign groups to challenge an earlier igh Court ruling that the scheme could proceed.<\/p>\n The \u00a32.2bn project, approved by the transport secretary<\/a>, Heidi Alexander, in September, will allow about 100,000 more flights a year to use Britain\u2019s second busiest airport.<\/p>\n Pierre-Hugues Schmit, chief executive of Gatwick, said the airport was :<\/p>\n double quotation mark\u201cvery pleased that this ruling brings to an end an eight-year planning and legal process which has carefully tested and scrutinised every aspect of our expansion plans on multiple occasions.\u201d<\/p>\n The plans<\/a> will see the West Sussex airport slightly reposition its emergency runway and use it routinely for short-haul passenger aircraft. It is currently among the busiest single-runway airports in the world, but hopes to have the second runway in operation as early as 2030.<\/p>\n Share<\/a> Streaming service Spotify has forecast weaker-than-expected profits in the next quarter, despite hitting a milestone for premium subscribers.<\/p>\n Spotify says it has become the first audio streaming service to reach 300 million Premium Subscribers in the second quarter of this year, up 9%, and slightly more than it had forecast.<\/p>\n But, the company forecast operating income of \u20ac670m in July-September, which Reuters flags is below analysts\u2019 average estimates of \u20ac677.8m.<\/p>\n Operating income in April-June beat forecasts, though, coming in at \u20ac655m.<\/p>\n Alex Norstr\u00f6m, co-CEO, says: <\/p>\n double quotation mark\u201cWe have a scale that few companies in history have reached, a business that is healthy and compounding, and opportunities only we are positioned to pursue.<\/p>\n Spotify lives across your whole day \u2014 the commute, the workout, studying, gaming, the dinner table, and sleep. At our scale, that is rare\u2026Our position gives us an opportunity space as wide as our users want it to be.\u201d<\/p>\n Shares in Spotify are down 4.4% in pre-market trading in New York.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Caterpillar sales boosted by data centre demand Construction equipment maker Caterpillar is continuing to benefit from the AI boom, cheering Wall Street.<\/p>\n Caterpillar has reported a jump in sales and profits in the second quarter of the year, led by its power equipment business which sells equipment to data centres.<\/p>\n The power generation division reported higher sales of \u201clarge reciprocating engines\u201d and in turbines and turbine-related services, primarily in data centre applications, Caterpillar reported.<\/p>\n Shares in the company are up 9% in pre-market trading, having fallen by nearly a quarter during July as investors had retreated from AI-linked stocks.<\/p>\n Caterpillar chairman and CEO Joe Creed says:<\/p>\n double quotation mark\u201cThis is the first time in company history that we have generated over $20 billion in sales and revenues in a single quarter.<\/p>\n \u201cThis milestone underscores both the essential work our customers do every day and the dedication of Caterpillar employees worldwide to solving our customers\u2019 toughest challenges. Strong order rates and a growing backlog reflect broadening momentum across all three of our primary segments.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a007.24 EDT<\/p>\n Oil price rises as uncertainty grows over US-Iran talks<\/p>\n The oil price is rising again today (after a sell-off yesterday) amid renewed uncertainty over US-Iran talks and reports that a cargo vessel was struck by an unidentified projectile near the strait of Hormuz off Oman\u2019s coast.<\/p>\n Donald Trump said on Monday that talks were under way and Iran faced a \u201clast chance\u201d to reach a deal, while Iranian officials insisted no negotiations with the United States were taking place.<\/p>\n Iran has said its only talks are with Oman about the strait of Hormuz and that no major meetings are planned \u2060this week.<\/p>\n It follows a weekend in which Trump said he decided to cancel what he described as \u201cmassive attacks\u201d on Iran \u2013 repeating a pattern in which he theatens major military action and then steps back.<\/p>\n Traffic is still trickling through the strait of Hormuz, with data from Kpler suggesting that three tankers and three bulk carriers were among the six vessels transiting the channel on Monday, down from seven the previous day.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a006.48 EDT<\/p>\n Metro Bank is however one of the worst performers across the FTSE<\/a> 350 this morning, with its shares down 9.2%.<\/p>\n Travis Perkins is at the top of the list, with its shares up 17.8% after the building materials supplier reported higher first-half profit, despite a subdued construction market in the UK.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Metro Bank reports bumper profits Metro Bank has followed its big four competitors in reporting bumper profits for the first half of the year. <\/p>\n The challenger bank reported a 38% jump in pre-tax profits to \u00a360.7m over the first six months of 2026, following a jump in corporate, SME and specialist mortgage lending, as Metro tries to corner \u201cunderserved markets\u201d to boost profits. <\/p>\n Specialist mortgage lending alone – which include bigger loans to professionals like doctors and architects, and lending to borrowers who might have minor blips on their credit records – surged 73% year-on-year to \u00a32.2bn. <\/p>\n It comes as the bank continues to shift out of run-of-the mill lending as part of a turnaround plan that followed its near collapse in 2023. <\/p>\n While the strong surge in profits will add weight to calls for a UK windfall tax, Metro would likely escape proposals put forward by campaign group Positive Money, which is calling for a levy on net interest income worth more than \u00a3800m per year. <\/p>\n Metro Bank reported around \u00a3241.5m in underlying net interest income for the first six months of the year, and if repeated, would keep its full year figure below campaigner\u2019s thresholds.<\/p>\n![\"Gwyn](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Gwyn_Topham,_L.png\")
Gwyn Topham Photograph: Karl Black\/Alamy<\/p>\n![\"Graeme](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Graeme-Wearden,-L.png\")
Graeme Wearden<\/p>\nGraeme Wearden<\/p>\n![\"Kalyeena](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Kalyeena_Makortoff,_L.png\")
Kalyeena Makortoff<\/p>\n