LONDON, March 12, 2026, 13:53 GMT
Barclays PLC slipped close to 4% Thursday, trading near 394 pence at 1328 GMT, according to Barclays market data. A spike in oil prices and inflation jitters dragged UK shares down. Reuters noted the FTSE 100 was off 0.4% by 1057 GMT, while crude topped $100 a barrel.
This hits now with Barclays positioned near the UK consumer and tied closely to the interest-rate cycle. On Tuesday, Barclays reported consumer spending in February edged up only 1.1%. Roughly 80% of surveyed households voiced concerns that the Middle East conflict could drive up fuel, energy bills, and inflation.
J.P. Morgan took a firmer stance on Thursday, singling out HSBC and Standard Chartered as the European banks facing the most exposure to the Middle East conflict. By contrast, Barclays, Santander, BNP Paribas and Deutsche Bank each show less than 1% exposure on both revenue and profit, the brokerage noted. That points to Barclays’ shares being hit more by sector jitters than by any direct lending risk in the region.
Still, Barclays faces pressure from a sluggish UK market. The latest Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors report pointed to weaker home-buyer demand. RICS’ Tarrant Parsons flagged that worsening geopolitical tensions have “clearly weighed on confidence,” and warned higher mortgage rates could stick around longer. Reuters
Shares are also under pressure from a different angle. According to court documents reviewed by Reuters this week, creditors of the failed mortgage firm Market Financial Solutions are looking at a deficit exceeding 1.3 billion pounds. Barclays appears on the list of lenders with exposure.
Scrutiny persists. Last week, Reuters said the Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority pressed lenders—Barclays among them—for specifics on their MFS exposure. An earlier Reuters report, citing a source, put Barclays’ outstanding amount at 495 million pounds. The bank would not comment.
But Barclays isn’t starting from a shaky position. Back in February, the bank reported a 12% jump in 2025 pretax profit to 9.1 billion pounds, raised its profitability goal for 2028, and committed to over 15 billion pounds in capital returns through that year. Finance director Anna Cross noted Barclays has “a number of levers” to offset potential fallout from U.S. moves to cap credit-card pricing. Reuters
But what moves the stock from here may have less to do with its Middle East footprint and more with rates and market sentiment. Reuters’ economist poll still points to two Bank of England cuts this year, but the calendar is fuzzy. UBS’s Dean Turner now sees a rate move getting pushed back to April—“more likely than not,” he said—as oil keeps inflation in play. Reuters
