London, Jan 18, 2026, 0908 GMT — The market has closed.
Standard Chartered shares climbed 1.5% to 1,878.5 pence (£18.79) on Friday, outpacing a flat broader market and hitting a fresh 52-week peak. 1
This is crucial heading into the new week since the stock has been creeping up on consistent capital-return signals. Investors have under six weeks to wait before the lender’s full-year results drop. The upcoming move will depend on if those numbers back up the rally.
Standard Chartered repurchased 549,274 shares on Jan. 15 as part of its current buyback program and intends to cancel these shares, reducing the total shares outstanding. 2
Data from the London Stock Exchange revealed that 5.5 million shares traded on Friday, a typical volume for a large-cap bank despite the stock hitting a fresh high. 3
Buybacks are straightforward: the bank spends capital to buy back its own shares, cutting the total share count and potentially boosting earnings per share if everything else stays the same. They often act as a floor for the stock when volatility spikes.
Other UK banks saw buying interest toward week’s end — NatWest climbed 2.2% on Friday. 4
Standard Chartered’s next major event will be its Q4 and full-year 2025 earnings report, scheduled for Feb. 24. 5
Traders will watch for any changes in rates while also tracking risk appetite in Asia—both factors can quickly sway bank valuations.
Japan remains in focus. Katsutoshi Inadome, senior strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset Management, told Reuters that “after seeing the yen weaken despite the BOJ’s December rate hike, I’m getting a stronger sense the BOJ may be behind the curve.” 6
The U.S. will get its next update on the Federal Reserve’s favored inflation measure on Jan. 22, as the Bureau of Economic Analysis publishes the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index. 7
China’s fourth-quarter GDP figures are set to drop, with S&P Global Market Intelligence forecasting 4.5% year-over-year growth. Any deviation from that could ripple through sentiment around China-exposed financials. 8
Political and geopolitical tensions might stir things up as the World Economic Forum holds its annual meeting in Davos from Jan. 19-23. 9
But there’s a catch. Any sharp reversal in Asian currencies, a sudden risk-off move linked to geopolitics, or signs that credit costs are climbing faster than expected could put pressure on a stock trading near its high.
London’s reopening Monday will put the spotlight on global rates and FX for cues on the near term. Eyes will also be on whether Standard Chartered can maintain its position above Friday’s high. The next key date on the calendar is the company’s earnings release on Feb. 24.
