London, March 3, 2026, 08:25 GMT — Regular session
- RELX shares were up 0.1% in early London trade, holding near 2,580p
- Company disclosed a 500,000-share buyback carried out on Monday
- Traders are watching oil and Bank of England rate expectations after Monday’s risk-off selloff
RELX (REL.L) shares edged higher in early London trading on Tuesday, up 0.1% at 2,578 pence by 08:25 GMT. The FTSE 100 information and analytics group opened at 2,583 pence, with early volume at about 249,000 shares. 1
The move comes as investors weigh how much support ongoing buybacks can offer when risk appetite is thin. For a stock that is widely held for cash generation and repeat revenue, the pace and price of repurchases matter more when markets are jumpy.
UK equities were hit hard on Monday as a Middle East conflict drove oil sharply higher and pushed investors toward safer assets, with the FTSE 100 ending down 1.2%. “If the issues persist, then the market will start to worry about new inflationary pressures and that could lower expectations for near-term interest rate cuts,” Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell, said. 2
RELX said it bought back 500,000 ordinary shares on Monday through UBS AG London Branch, paying a volume-weighted average price of 2,567.2031 pence, with trades ranging from 2,538 pence to 2,590 pence. The shares will be held in treasury, taking the total held to 24,837,957, it said. 3
A separate filing on Monday put total voting rights at 1,804,927,533, after accounting for shares held in treasury. The company’s share capital stood at 1,828,265,490 ordinary shares as of Feb. 27, the notice showed. 4
A London Stock Exchange notice on Monday also listed a “block admission” of 80,000 RELX ordinary shares to trading. The line-item sat among a long list of admissions and did not move the needle on its own, but it adds to the share-count plumbing investors track alongside buybacks. 5
Across Europe, the mood is still fragile after Monday’s broad selloff. The STOXX 600 closed down 1.7% in what Reuters described as its biggest one-day fall in three months, with banks and travel shares among the hardest hit as oil prices jumped on supply and shipping worries. “We expect a short, hard-hitting regional conflict,” Paul Christopher, head of global investment strategy at Wells Fargo Investment Institute, said. 6
But buybacks don’t hedge a tape like this. If energy stays high and investors keep trimming expectations for rate cuts, defensives can still get dragged lower, especially if flows turn indiscriminate and volatility rises again.
For the week ahead, traders will be watching for signs that oil’s spike feeds through into rates pricing, with the Bank of England’s next Bank Rate decision due on March 19. Any further escalation headlines — and RELX’s next repurchase disclosures — will sit close behind. 7
