London, January 10, 2026, 09:29 GMT — Market closed
Shares of Legal & General Group Plc (LGEN.L) last closed up 0.7% at 266.9 pence on Friday, after trading between 263.3p and 267.7p on the day. The move came as the FTSE 100 marked a record close of 10,126.6 points, up 0.8%, with traders still pricing in about 54 basis points of rate cuts in 2026 after a softer U.S. jobs report. 1
That matters now because insurers with big retirement and savings books tend to track shifts in interest-rate expectations. When bond yields swing, so do assumptions about investment income, pricing power and how much capital can be returned.
L&G on Thursday outlined changes to underwriting — the process insurers use to price and accept risk — in its retail protection business, including breaking up complex questions and narrowing some family medical history wording to “full blood” relatives. David Banks, director of claims and underwriting for retail protection, called the update “designed to simplify the application journey”. 2
For investors, operational fixes like this only get real attention if they start to show up in claims experience and costs. The bigger watchpoints into results season stay familiar: cash generation, capital strength, and whether demand holds up in bulk annuities, where insurers take on pension liabilities.
Markets now pivot from jobs to prices. “The dip in unemployment and a likely ‘hot’ inflation print next week suggests no action before March,” James Knightley, chief international economist at ING, said. 3
On the chart, the 263p area from Friday is the first obvious support, with 268p the nearer ceiling from the same session; 270p sits just above as a round-number marker. Whether the stock opens Monday with buyers still in control may depend more on bond yields than on stock-specific headlines.
But the setup can flip quickly. A hotter-than-expected inflation run could lift yields and unwind rate-cut bets, a move that often hits rate-sensitive financial shares even when company news is quiet.
Next up is U.S. consumer price data for December on Jan. 13, followed by the UK’s monthly GDP estimate for November on Jan. 15. Legal & General’s next scheduled company catalyst is its full-year results on March 11, according to its financial calendar. 4
