London, March 4, 2026, 08:03 GMT — Regular session
Key points:
- Barclays shares edged lower in early London trade after two sharp declines at the start of March.
- Higher oil and gas prices have revived inflation worries, pressuring rate-cut expectations and bank stocks.
- Focus turns to the Bank of England’s March 19 decision and Barclays’ April 28 earnings date.
Barclays PLC (BARC.L) shares slipped 0.4% to 420.9 pence in early London Stock Exchange trade on Wednesday, following two steep declines at the start of March. Shares opened at 423.3p and traded between 420.8p and 424.95p. Barclays closed down 3.4% on Tuesday and 3.4% on Monday. 1
The pullback comes as investors trim bank exposure after a jump in oil prices revived inflation fears and shifted interest-rate expectations. “Any ceasefire for now looks like a remote possibility,” said Lindsay James, an investment strategist at Quilter, referring to the widening Middle East conflict. 2
Why this matters now: bank shares tend to move with bond yields and the likely path of policy rates. Higher energy costs can keep inflation higher for longer, pushing up gilt yields — the interest investors demand to hold UK government debt — while also squeezing households and companies.
Britain’s FTSE 100 dropped 2.8% on Tuesday, its steepest one-day fall in nearly a year, after Brent crude climbed almost 7% and European gas prices rose 15%. David Rees, head of global economics at Schroders, said higher energy prices could “prevent the Bank from cutting rates” and upset hopes for a growth pickup. 3
UK lenders took some of the heaviest blows, with Barclays off 4.2% at one point on Tuesday, HSBC down 4.7% and Lloyds Banking Group down 3.4%, a Reuters report showed. Traders were pricing less than a one-in-three chance of a quarter-point Bank of England rate cut this month, the report said. 4
In a filing dated March 2, Barclays said it had bought 41.4 million shares under a £1 billion buyback announced in February, at a volume-weighted average price of 470.5603 pence. The filing also covered completed repurchases from an earlier programme. 5
Separate headlines included a report that Barclays has circulated requests for information to technology providers as it weighs a blockchain-based platform for payments and deposits. The Nasdaq.com report said the project was early and that a spokesperson declined to comment; it said the system could support stablecoins, digital tokens pegged to traditional currencies. 6
For now, traders are watching energy prices and gilt yields more than bank-specific projects, with the sector trading like a macro proxy.
The next big marker is the Bank of England’s rate decision on March 19; Bank Rate is 3.75%. Any further swing in oil and gas prices is likely to keep rates and bank stocks on edge. 7
But the setup cuts both ways. A de-escalation in the Middle East could cool inflation fears and bring rate-cut expectations back into view, while a prolonged squeeze in energy could drag on growth and raise concerns about loan losses.
Barclays’ next earnings date is scheduled for April 28, when investors will look for updates on income, credit provisions and the pace of buybacks. 8
