As Brits reel from a cost-of-living crisis, the UK stock market quietly booms to an all-time high
The sun rises over the city on Feb. 6, 2023 in London, United Kingdom.
Leon Neal | Getty Images News | Getty Images
LONDON — The U.K. is facing the weakest growth prospects in the G-7 and a catalogue of cost-of-living pressures that are pushing the poorest into crisis and intensely squeezing the budgets of middle-income households.
At the same time, more investor money has never been pumped into the U.K.’s biggest companies. The FTSE 100 index has smashed through three intraday records over the last week, starting last Friday and hitting new heights in Wednesday’s and Thursday’s sessions.
That’s also coming off the back of a year in markets that was dominated by doom and gloom, with risk assets selling off and indexes from the pan-European Stoxx 600 to the U.S. S&P 500 to Shanghai’s SSE Composite emerging bruised.
The most recent uptick for the FTSE 100 shows that, as well as occurring despite harsh cost-of-living pressures, they are also linked to them.
Energy firms such as Shell and BP have reported record profits and promised higher shareholder dividends, boosting their share prices (with calls for higher windfall taxes to support consumers struggling with higher bills doing little to dampen their appeal).
Thursday’s FTSE climb to an all-time high of 7,944 points at midday in London was boosted by gains at Standard Chartered, one of many banks that have seen profits jump as a result of higher interest rates.
Meanwhile, the strong performance of commodity stocks has also lifted the index higher as they have been boosted by a rise in prices, supply constraints and, recently, the prospect of China’s Covid-19 reopening.
FTSE 100 chart.
“The U.K. FTSE 100 is not about the U.K. domestic economy,” said Janet Mui, head of market analysis at RBC Brewin Dolphin, noting over 80% of firms’ corporate revenue exposure is derived from overseas.
Mui told CNBC a confluence of factors had taken the index to a record high, including the plunge in sterling helping those overseas revenues (collected in dollars); its heavy weighting in energy, commodities and financials; and the relatively strong performance too of defensive staples in consumer products — such as Unilever — and health care — such as AstraZeneca.
What the U.K. stock market has frequently been criticized for — a lack of new, buzzy tech firms and preponderance of stalwarts of the “old economy” — has been a boon as monetary and financial cycles have turned.
The wider FTSE 250 does have stronger domestic links but still has 50% of revenue exposed to overseas, Mui added.
Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said that among other factors, the FTSE’s rise could be explained by glimmers of hope in the economic picture, such as housebuilder Barratt reporting a “modest uplift” in reservations of new homes. She also pointed to forward-looking signals of Europe avoiding a recession and an abating of the energy crisis.
Banks would perform even better if their net income margins improve but bad loans don’t come through, she noted.
Shell share price.
Among the factors weighing on the U.K. public are interest rate rises increasing borrowing costs, grocery price inflation at a record high of 16.7% and overall inflation above 10%.
A report published Wednesday by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research argued the U.K. was likely to avoid a technical recession this year — though growth would be near zero — but that one in four households will be unable to fully pay their energy and food bills, and middle-income households will face up to a £4,000 ($4,873) drop in disposable income.
And the disjunct between stock market gains and the dire outlook still facing many households jars for many.
“It is a cruel paradox that on the day that the FTSE 100 index hit a record high, campaigners on behalf of up to 7 million people on lower incomes in the UK were calling for the government to extend the support provided to them with regard to their energy bills,” Richard Murphy, professor of accounting practice at Sheffield University Management School, told CNBC.
In March, the U.K. government is set to end a broad household energy bill compensation program that has run through the winter. It comes as many governments attempt to wind down fiscal support to rein in public spending, with the European Central Bank recently arguing that maintaining support packages risks maintaining inflation.
But Murphy said that without the support, and with bills still elevated, “many will not be able to make ends meet and will go hungry, cold or even homeless as a result.”
“The picture that this provides of a country enormously divided by differing incomes and wealth is almost Victorian in its starkness,” said Murphy.
Volvo Cars took the wraps off new-for-2026 S90 plug-in hybrid, calling the big sedan the most elegant and comfortable 90 yet, promising nearly 50 miles (80 km) of all-electric range and a comprehensive suite of high-end technology and design updates … but if you’re reading this in English, you probably can’t have one.
The updated Volvo S90 is still blinking into the spotlight, but there are already reports that Volvo Cars has decided against bringing the slick new sedan to the US. And Canada. And the UK. And … you get the idea.
That’s too bad, too – because the SPA S90 has always been a comfortable and capable performer. Alas, sedans aren’t selling, you could get whiplash trying to keep track of all the tariff news these days, and Volvo (like a lot of companies in 2025, frankly), no longer needs the English-speaking world to keep it profitable.
“The S90 is a key part of our product portfolio for the coming years in some of our Asian markets,” says Erik Severinson, Chief Product and Strategy Officer at Volvo Cars. “Together with the new fully electric ES90, the new S90 ensures we have a complete and attractive offering for customers who value safety and want to drive a large, sleek Volvo sedan.”
Invoking the electric-only ES90 EV is a key point here – and Volvo is pushing its marketing heavily into the idea that the PHEV version(s) of the face-lifted luxo-cruiser is “really” an EV, with press copy that reads:
As a plug-in hybrid, the new S90 is an electric car with a back-up plan. It offers 80 kilometers of fully electric range on a single charge under the WLTP testing cycle, while also providing more power when needed. This means that many S90 drivers will be able to do their daily commute with zero tailpipe emissions. Volvo Cars’ data shows that nearly half of the distance covered by the latest plug-in hybrid Volvo cars is powered purely by electricity.
There’s plenty to unpack there – not the least of which is whether or not the cars’ owners will ever actually plug them in. My personal experience with friends and neighbors who own T8/PHEV Volvos now would tell me that they’re more likely than, say, Jeep Wrangler 4xe owners to plug-in … but it hardly matters at this point.
The new S90 will be available to order for customers in China this summer, with selected other markets following later.
Check out some of the official press photos, below, then let us know whether or not you’ll miss seeing new S90s on English-speaking roads in the comments.
Volvo S90 photo gallery
SOURCE | IMAGES: Volvo Cars.
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On today’s fleet-focused episode of Quick Charge, we talk about a hot topic in today’s trucking industry called, “the messy middle,” explore some of the ways legacy truck brands are working to reduce fuel consumption and increase freight efficiency. PLUS: we’ve got ReVolt Motors’ CEO and founder Gus Gardner on-hand to tell us why he thinks his solution is better.
You know, for some people.
We’ve also got a look at the Kenworth Supertruck 2 concept truck, revisit the Revoy hybrid tandem trailer, and even plug a great article by CCJ’s Jeff Seger, who is asking some great questions over there. All this and more – enjoy!
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If you’re considering going solar, it’s always a good idea to get quotes from a few installers. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.
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Thanks to Trump’s repeated executive order attacks on US clean energy policy, nearly $8 billion in investments and 16 new large-scale factories and other projects were cancelled, closed, or downsized in Q1 2025.
The $7.9 billion in investments withdrawn since January are more than three times the total investments cancelled over the previous 30 months, according to nonpartisan policy group E2’s latest Clean Economy Works monthly update.
However, companies continue to invest in the US renewable sector. Businesses in March announced 10 projects worth more than $1.6 billion for new solar, EV, and grid and transmission equipment factories across six states. That includes Tesla’s plan to invest $200 million in a battery factory near Houston that’s expected to create at least 1,500 new jobs. Combined, the projects are expected to create at least 5,000 new permanent jobs if completed.
Michael Timberlake of E2 said, “Clean energy companies still want to invest in America, but uncertainty over Trump administration policies and the future of critical clean energy tax credits are taking a clear toll. If this self-inflicted and unnecessary market uncertainty continues, we’ll almost certainly see more projects paused, more construction halted, and more job opportunities disappear.”
March’s 10 new projects bring the overall number of major clean energy projects tracked by E2 to 390 across 42 states and Puerto Rico. Companies have said they plan to invest more than $133 billion in these projects and hire 122,000 permanent workers.
Since Congress passed federal clean energy tax credits in August 2022, 34 clean energy projects have been cancelled, downsized, or shut down altogether, wiping out more than 15,000 jobs and scrapping $10 billion in planned investment, according to E2 and Atlas Public Policy.
However, in just the first three months of 2025, after Trump started rolling back clean energy policies, 13 projects were scrapped or scaled back, totaling more than $5 billion. That includes Bosch pulling the plug on its $200 million hydrogen fuel cell plant in South Carolina and Freyr Battery canceling its $2.5 billion battery factory in Georgia.
Republican-led districts have reaped the biggest rewards from Biden’s clean energy tax credits, but they’re also taking the biggest hits under Trump. So far, more than $6 billion in projects and over 10,000 jobs have been wiped out in GOP districts alone.
And the stakes are high. Through March, Republican districts have claimed 62% of all clean energy project announcements, 71% of the jobs, and a staggering 83% of the total investment.
A full map and list of announcements can be seen on E2’s website here. E2 says it will incorporate cancellation data in the coming weeks.
Read more: FREYR kills plans to build a $2.6 billion battery factory in Georgia
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