Wednesday 29 April 2026
The Mighty Headlines
Economics: UAE to leave OPEC on the 1st May
Business and markets: Shares of OpenAI’s partners decline in value
Foreign Affairs: King Charles gives speech to US Congress
Security and intelligence: Violence in Colombia before Presidential election
UK domestic affairs: Arrest made following Sunday’s New IRA bomb attack
The Mighty Stats
FTSE = 10,332.79 (up 0.11%)
S&P 500 = 7,138.80 (down 0.49%)
Nasdaq = 24,663.80 (down 0.9%)
Stoxx 600 = 606.58 (down 0.37%)
£1 = $1.35 / €1.15
Lab / Con / Reform / Green = 18 / 19 / 26 / 15 per cent (YouGov, 26-27 April)
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The Mighty Detail
Economics: The United Arab Emirates has said that it will leave the OPEC group of oil producing countries, effective from the 1st May. The UAE says that it is planning a strategic realignment following the Iran war and will seek to gradually increase oil production.
OPEC members seek to coordinate oil policies and influence oil prices.
Other members include Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela (among others).
Business and markets: The shares of companies linked to OpenAI fell yesterday. It follows news that OpenAI missed sales and new user targets.
Shares in OpenAI partner Oracle fell by nearly 4 per cent and shares in Japan’s SoftBank fell by nearly 10 per cent.
OpenAI, which is not itself listed on the stock market, is facing increased competition from rivals such as Anthropic.
Foreign Affairs: The King gave a speech to a Joint Meeting of the US Congress yesterday – the first since Queen Elizabeth’s speech in 1991. The King focused on global security threats, the enduring nature of the US-UK alliance and the 250th anniversary of US independence.
Security and intelligence:Colombia is being hit by increasing violence ahead of the Presidential election on the 31st May. There have been 26 rebel attacks since Friday and an attack near a tunnel on the Pan-American Highway killed 21 people.
The tunnel attack is attributed to the FARC-EMC rebel group. Some analysts suggest that the group may be seeking to flaunt its power to Colombia’s next government.
UK domestic affairs: A man in Northern Ireland was arrested yesterday under the Terrorism Act. It comes after a bomb was detonated in a hijacked car outside a police station close to Belfast on Sunday. The New IRA has claimed responsibility for the attack. No-one was injured in the explosion.
The Mighty Calendar
What’s happening today?
The King and Queen Camilla visit the 9/11 Memorial in New York City
US Federal Reserve interest rate decision – set to stay at 3.5% to 3.75%
UK Parliament could be prorogued ahead of King’s Speech in May
Champions League semi-final: Atletico Madrid vs Arsenal
Company results from: Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, TotalEnergies, Lloyds, Santander, UBS, AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Ford, Mercedes, Aston Martin, Deutsche Bank, Heathrow
Lookahead to tomorrow
The King and Queen Camilla end US State Visit and The King begins two-day visit to Bermuda
Bank of England interest rate decision – set to stay at 3.75%
European Central Bank interest rate decision – set to stay at 2%
Company results from: Standard Chartered, Crédit Agricole, BNP Paribas, Société Générale, Air France-KLM, BASF, Arcelor Mittal, Samsung, Reddit, Volkswagen, Eli Lilly, Unilever
The Mighty Finale
🌤️Weather today
Dry and sunny across much of England but with a small chance of light rain in the southwest. High of 18C and low of 9C in London. Dry and sunny in Belfast and Edinburgh too.
✏️Life coaching quote of the day
“Busy is a decision. We do the things we want to do, period. If we say we are too busy, it is just shorthand for the thing being “not important enough” or “not a priority.” Busy is not a badge. You don’t find the time to make things, you make the time to do things.” – Debbie Millan, writer and educator
Mighty takeaway: Do the things that keep you busy really matter or could you be using that time to do something you enjoy instead?
That’s it for this Wednesday morning. Thank you for reading as ever and we’ll see you again on Friday.
Bye for now!
The Mighty Memo team
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