Doctors in England start a 5-day strike over pay. The government says it will hurt patients

LONDON (AP) — Thousands of doctors in England’s state-funded health system walked off the job Friday in a five-day strike over pay that the government says will disrupt care for patients across the country.

Resident doctors, those early in their careers who form the backbone of hospital and clinic care, took to picket lines outside hospitals after talks with the government broke down.

The National Health Service said emergency departments would be open and hospitals and clinics would try to carry out as many scheduled appointments as possible.

The doctors are seeking a pay raise to make up for what their union, the British Medical Association, says is a 20% real-terms pay cut since 2008.

“When doctors decide to take strike action it’s always portrayed as though we’re being selfish, but we’re here as a body to help the public day in, day out, to work hours that don’t even end sometimes," said Kelly Johnson, a doctor on the picket line outside St. Thomas’ Hospital in central London,

“Here we are just trying to get what’s right for us so we can do our best to serve the public.”

The government says doctors have received an average 28.9% increase as part of a deal to settle previous strikes and it will not offer more, but is willing to discuss improved working conditions.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer urged the doctors to go back to work.

“Most people do not support these strikes. They know they will cause real damage,” he wrote in The Times newspaper.

“Behind the headlines are the patients whose lives will be blighted by this decision. The frustration and disappointment of necessary treatment delayed. And worse, late diagnoses and care that risks their long-term health," Starmer wrote.

Health sector staff staged a series of rolling strikes over more than a year in 2023-24, seeking pay rises to offset the rising cost of living. The strikes forced tens of thousands of appointments and procedures to be postponed.

The strikes hit efforts by the National Health Service to dig out of an appointment backlog that ballooned after the COVID-19 pandemic and led to longer waiting times to see a doctor.

The strikes stopped after the Labour government elected in July 2024 gave doctors a raise, but the union held a new strike vote last month.

NHS resident doctors hold placards outside St Thomas' Hospital in London, as resident doctors in England, formerly referred to as junior doctors, begin a five-day strike after talks with the government collapsed over pay, Friday, July 25, 2025. ( James Manning/PA via AP)

NHS resident doctors hold placards outside St Thomas' Hospital in London, as resident doctors in England, formerly referred to as junior doctors, begin a five-day strike after talks with the government collapsed over pay, Friday, July 25, 2025. ( James Manning/PA via AP)

Britain's Health Secretary Wes Streeting, center, listens during a visit to NHS National Operations Centre to see how they manage industrial action, in London, Friday, July 25, 2025. (Jordan Pettitt/PA via AP)

NHS resident doctors hold placards outside St Thomas' Hospital in London, as resident doctors in England, formerly referred to as junior doctors, begin a five-day strike after talks with the government collapsed over pay, Friday, July 25, 2025. ( James Manning/PA via AP)

NHS resident doctors and supporters stand outside St Thomas' Hospital as resident doctors in England, formerly referred to as junior doctors, begin a five-day strike after talks with the Government collapsed over pay, in London, Friday, July 25, 2025. (James Manning/PA via AP)

NHS resident doctors hold placards outside St Thomas' Hospital in London, as resident doctors in England, formerly referred to as junior doctors, begin a five-day strike after talks with the government collapsed over pay, Friday, July 25, 2025. ( James Manning/PA via AP)

NHS resident doctors hold placards outside St Thomas' Hospital in London, as resident doctors in England, formerly referred to as junior doctors, begin a five-day strike after talks with the government collapsed over pay, Friday, July 25, 2025. ( James Manning/PA via AP)

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks of credit card companies are dropping Monday after President Donald Trump threatened moves that could eat into their profits. The rest of Wall Street, meanwhile, was showing only modest signals of concern after tensions ramped to a much higher degree between the White House and the Federal Reserve.

The S&P 500 edged down by 0.1% from its all-time high as U.S. stocks drifted through mixed trading, while prices for gold and other investments that tend to do well when investors are nervous rose. The value of the U.S. dollar also dipped against other currencies amid some concern that the Fed may have less independence in setting interest rates to keep inflation under control.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 151 points, or 0.3%, as of 10:45 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was down 0.1%.

Some of the stock market's sharpest drops hit credit card companies, as Synchrony Financial, Capital One Financial and American Express all fell between 5% and 9%. They sank after Trump said he wanted to put a 10% cap on credit card interest rates for a year. Such a move could eat into profits for credit card companies.

But it was a separate move by Trump that was grabbing more attention on Wall Street. Over the weekend, the Federal Reserve’s chair said the U.S. Department of Justice subpoenaed the Fed and threatened a criminal indictment over his testimony about renovations at its headquarters.

With an unusual video statement released on Sunday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said his testimony and the renovations are “pretexts” for the threat of criminal charges, which is really “a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the President.”

The Fed has been locked in a feud with Trump, who has loudly called for lower interest rates that would make borrowing cheaper for U.S. households and companies and could give the economy a kickstart. The Fed did lower its main interest rate three times last year and indicated more cuts may be arriving this year, but it’s moved deliberately enough that Trump has nicknamed Powell “Too Late.”

In a brief interview with NBC News Sunday, Trump insisted he didn’t know about the investigation into Powell. When asked if the investigation is intended to pressure Powell on rates, Trump said, “No. I wouldn’t even think of doing it that way.”

The Fed has traditionally operated separately from the rest of Washington, making its decisions without having to bend to political whims. Such independence, the thinking goes, gives it the freedom to keep interest rates high when necessary to drive down high inflation, even if it slows the economy and frustrate politicians looking to please voters.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury briefly reached 4.21%, up from 4.18% late Friday, amid concerns that a less independent Fed could mean higher inflation over the longer term. But it later eased back to 4.18%.

The worries also hit the value of the U.S. dollar, which slipped 0.4% against the euro and 0.4% against the Swiss franc.

A couple reasons could be behind markets shaking off the concerns about the Fed, including how it may ultimately play out for the best, according to Giuseppe Sette, president of Reflexivity, an AI investment analytics platform. Trump has already criticized the Fed sharply, and he's trying at the moment to fire Fed Gov. Lisa Cook, but the Fed's rate-setting committee still seems to be acting independently.

Plus, this latest move could encourage Powell to stay on at the Fed as a governor until his term expires in 2028, even though his term as chair will end in May, said Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management.

“With the political pressure on the Fed, he may choose to stay on as a governor out of spite,” he said. "It would deprive President Trump of the ability to stack the board with another appointee."

On Wall Street, Abercrombie & Fitch dropped 17.4% after the retailer gave a forecasted range for profit in the final quarter of 2025 whose midpoint fell short of analysts' expectations. Its forecast for growth in revenue also fell shy of Wall Street's.

On the winning side of the market was Walmart, which rose 2.5% after learning that its stock will join the widely followed Nasdaq 100 index. Google also said Sunday that it's expanding the shopping features in its AI chatbot by teaming up with Walmart and several other big retailers.

The price of gold rose 3% to $4,635.40 per ounce and was heading toward another record.

In stock markets abroad, indexes rose across much of Europe and Asia. Stocks jumped 1.4% in Hong Kong and 1.1% in Shanghai for two of the world’s bigger gains following reports that Chinese leaders were preparing more help for the economy.

AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.

Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

James Lamb works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Specialist Anthony Matesic works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Daniel Kryger works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Dealers watch computer monitors near the screens showing the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A dealer walks near the screens showing the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won and the Korean Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (KOSDAQ) at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Dealers talk near the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A dealer walks near the screens showing the foreign exchange rates at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)