London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Sep 19, 2025

Liz Truss resignation sparks recovery for pound, shares and government borrowing costs

Liz Truss resignation sparks recovery for pound, shares and government borrowing costs

The markets are likely to reflect jitters in the coming days on whether the new occupant of Number 10 will want to change direction again following the mini-budget U-turns of the past few weeks.

There has been a positive market reaction to the resignation of Liz Truss after just 44 days in office, following the fierce backlash against her economic plan and humiliating climbdown.

News that the prime minister was to make a Downing Street statement sparked a rally for sterling versus the dollar - leaving the UK currency almost a cent up on the day at one stage at almost $1.13 before settling at $1.12 in the late afternoon.

It originally rose half a cent following confirmation she was to leave office.

Shares also moved upwards initially on the FTSE 100 before closing higher than opening trading while government borrowing costs fell.

The 30-year gilt yield fell back to 3.8% - continuing its recovery since the post mini-budget highs of around 5% that sparked Bank of England intervention. As the afternoon progressed the figure rose to the 3.9% of Thursday morning.

It took a series of U-turns on the tax-cutting growth plan, demanded by new Chancellor Jeremy Hunt after the sacking of Kwasi Kwarteng, for market damage to ease.

The reaction to the departure of Ms Truss signalled a measure of relief that the architect of the Growth Plan - outlined during her campaign for the Tory leadership - was on her way out.


Nevertheless, there was also a measure of uncertainty at play for values, given the complete lack of vision on who would replace the prime minister in Number 10.

It will not be Mr Hunt, who has ruled himself out, leaving him free to continue preparations for the Halloween statement that is to set out the government's new medium-term fiscal plan.

There will be some jitters over whether its direction is likely to change - or even be delayed to allow the new Tory leader to get their feet under the desk.

There has been no indication that the statement will be delayed as it is expected that the successor will be in place before 31 October.

Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said of the market moves: "Sterling is highly sensitive to economic policy uncertainty and even though the ship Britannia will still be left largely rudderless, with a successor still to be chosen, as far as investors are concerned, the future is marginally brighter without her in charge.

"Ten-year gilt yields eased further today, as speculation soared about her resignation, a sign of tacit approval from the bond vigilantes who punished the UK by deserting its government's debt as worries raced up about fiscal responsibility."

Business appealed for a more stable period ahead.

Tony Danker, the director-general of the CBI, said: "The politics of recent weeks have undermined the confidence of people, businesses, markets and global investors in Britain.

"That must now come to an end if we are to avoid yet more harm to households and firms.

"Stability is key. The next prime minister will need to act to restore confidence from day one.

"They will need to deliver a credible fiscal plan for the medium term as soon as possible, and a plan for the long-term growth of our economy."

Pantheon Macroeconomics, the economic research consultancy, said in its October UK economic chartbook: "The economy is heading for a prolonged recession … the MPC [the interest rate setting Monetary Policy Committee] will hike Bank Rate further, but will relent at about 4%."

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Massive Strikes in France Pressure Macron and New PM on Austerity Proposals
Trump Seeks Supreme Court Permission to Remove Fed Governor Lisa Cook
Hillary Clinton’s Reckless Rhetoric Fuels Division After Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
NASDAQ Rises to Record as Intel Soars More Than 20%, Nvidia Gains 3%
Nvidia’s $5 Billion Bet on Intel Reshapes AI Hardware Landscape
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Trump’s Quip on Biden and Google Lawsuit Revives Debate Over Antitrust Legacy
Macron and his wife to provide 'scientific photographic evidence' that she is a real woman
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
×