Must read: US earnings, BP, oil, gold

ii’s head of investment rounds up the morning’s big news.

14th January 2026 09:06

by Victoria Scholar from interactive investor

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GLOBAL MARKETS

European markets cautiously continue their ascent, with the FTSE 100 trading above 10,160. Pearson (LSE:PSON) is at the bottom of the leaderboard after a disappointing trading update. Meanwhile, Fresnillo (LSE:FRES) and Endeavour Mining (LSE:EDV) have hit fresh highs fuelled by precious metals gains.

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In other UK corporate news, the Financial Times reported that Coca-Cola Co (NYSE:KO) is scrapping its private equity sale of Costa Coffee due to weak bids. It had been looking to sell the business for £2 billion, a significant loss after buying the coffee chain for £3.9 billion in 2018 from Whitbread.

In the United States, US futures are pointing to a flat open while the US dollar is trading around six-week highs after the headline consumer price index (CPI) for December met expectations, but the core reading came in slightly better than expected. The latest producer price index (PPI) data will be in focus today for more clues into the inflation and Federal Reserve outlook.

JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM) results kicked off earnings season on Tuesday. While adjusted earnings were better than expected, disappointing investment banking fees punished its share price, suggesting that hopes of a bounce back in M&A and IPOs on Wall Street might not be as straightforward as hoped. Attention now turns to results from Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C) and Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC) with focus on net interest margins, investment banking fees, trading revenues and loan growth.

In Asia, despite US tariffs, China still managed to achieve a record $1.2 trillion trade surplus last year, fuelled by strong exports to other trading partners and weak imports. Meanwhile, in Japan, lower house snap election speculation has pushed the Japanese yen to the lowest level since July 2024 while the Nikkei hit fresh record highs. Currency weakness has raised speculation of the potential for market intervention.

In commodities, the oil rally is taking a pause for breath after four days of gains after Venezuela restarted exports. Gold and silver have scaled fresh record highs continuing their ascent as investors flock to safe-haven assets to shield from the geopolitical instability and worries about Fed independence.

BP

BP (LSE:BP.) shares are trading lower this morning after it highlighted a significant impairment and weaker oil prices.

The oil giant said it expects an impairment worth $4-5 billion in Q4 relating to its energy transition business. However, this won’t impact its underlying replacement cost profit. On a positive note, net debt at the end of Q4 is expected to come in between $22 billion and $23 billion versus $26.1 billion at the end of Q3. BP said Brent crude averaged $62.73 a barrel (/bbl) in Q4 down from $69.13/bbl in Q3 - it warned that the oil trading result ‘is expected to be weak’.

BP has been dealing with the unexpected departure of its CEO Murray Auchincloss in December 2025 as well as weaker oil prices and pressure to shift back to oil and gas away from the energy transition to sharpen investor returns.

Over a multi-year time horizon, Shell shares have significantly outperformed BP's, adding to pressure on its management team. There is a major task at hand for incoming CEO Meg O’Neill who takes to the helm in April, particularly at a time when underlying oil price dynamics are generally unfavourable with a glut of supply and a subdued demand outlook. She will also be focusing on BP’s goal to significantly reduce net debt.

These articles are provided for information purposes only. Occasionally, an opinion about whether to buy or sell a specific investment may be provided by third parties. The content is not intended to be a personal recommendation to buy or sell any financial instrument or product, or to adopt any investment strategy as it is not provided based on an assessment of your investing knowledge and experience, your financial situation or your investment objectives. The value of your investments, and the income derived from them, may go down as well as up. You may not get back all the money that you invest. The investments referred to in this article may not be suitable for all investors, and if in doubt, an investor should seek advice from a qualified investment adviser.

Full performance can be found on the company or index summary page on the interactive investor website. Simply click on the company's or index name highlighted in the article.

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