Investment 18 March 2026 - 20 March 2026

Macquarie Group landed back in the spotlight in Sydney Friday, after issuing yet another update on its on-market buyback—a share repurchase effort that’s been tracking investor attention. Traders were still digesting the company’s recent move to drop its pursuit of Kuwait’s oil pipeline network, a deal that could have reached $7 billion. Macquarie shares closed at A$196.09 on Thursday, slipping 0.65%, per ASX data. The Kuwait pullout is shaping up as a bigger headache for markets. Few moves have signaled the Iran war’s impact on Gulf dealmaking quite like this—especially for Macquarie, which has spent years putting money to work in the region. Now, with oil prices climbing and Australia turning back to rate hikes, funding costs could be headed

IG Group is considering shifting its listing away from London, possibly over to the U.S., after launching a strategic review Thursday—a move that, if finalized, would deal another blow to London’s stock exchange. The spread-betting and CFD broker, which lets clients speculate on price swings without actually owning assets, rolled out the review alongside record revenue projections for 2025 and a fresh £125 million share buyback. The review should wrap up by autumn. Timing is key here. IG plans to join the FTSE 100 on March 23, but the board has already started reviewing the group’s domicile, legal setup, and listing options to free up capital and boost its strategic room to maneuver. Reuters pointed out that U.S. exchanges have

Standard Chartered PLC finished Wednesday at roughly 1,630 pence, climbing 1.7% even as the FTSE 100 slipped 0.9%. Driving the move, investors reacted to a Reuters story that said the bank is considering bids for a chunk of its India credit-card portfolio. According to Reuters, Standard Chartered is weighing proposals from Kotak Mahindra Bank and Federal Bank, covering up to 600,000 India-only credit card customers. This shift would steer the bank even further from low-margin, single-product retail clients in India, moving it toward the affluent and wealth management segments it’s been chasing. Investors have been poking at that plan since Standard Chartered revealed higher profit forecasts for 2025 last month, along with a fresh $1.5 billion buyback.

Wednesday saw Australia's S&P/ASX 200 finish 0.31% higher at 8,640.60, gaining 26.30 points by the close. This shift landed just a day after the Reserve Bank of Australia bumped its cash rate up by 25 basis points—so, a quarter point—to 4.1%, passing in a narrow 5-4 split. It also arrived only hours before the U.S. Federal Reserve’s decision, expected later Thursday in Sydney. Westpac chief economist Luci Ellis flagged that a second move in May looks "less certain" now, hinging heavily on developments in the Middle East.

Rio Tinto plc’s U.S. shares slipped 1.1% to $88.79 by midday Wednesday. Traders digested fresh progress at the company’s Resolution Copper project in Arizona, but softer copper prices and another wave of inflation nerves kept a lid on the stock, which hit an intraday peak of $90.80. The market’s shrug is notable as Rio pushes copper to the front, even though iron ore remains the main profit engine. Back in February, the miner posted 2025 underlying earnings—excluding one-offs—of $10.87 billion. Copper chipped in roughly 30% of group earnings, but iron ore still held close to 60%.