London, February 8, 2026, 08:19 GMT — Markets aren’t open at this hour.
- London Stock Exchange Group wrapped up Friday at 7,502p, down 1.1%.
- Data and analytics shares have swung sharply as fresh worries about AI disruption hit the sector.
- On deck: traders eye Monday’s open. LSEG’s FY25 preliminary results webcast lands Feb. 26.
London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG.L) ended Friday at 7,502 pence, down 1.1%. The stock bounced between 7,184 and 7,716 pence during the day. Volume landed near 2.2 million shares. For the week, LSEG dropped roughly 8%.
LSEG shares took a hit this week, fueling a fierce debate among traders about whether fresh “AI agents” could start chipping away at the pricing power that data and workflow firms rely on. Reuters reported additional selling pressure after Anthropic’s Claude rolled out a new plug-in, and nerves rattled further as investors digested the sheer scale of Big Tech’s current AI investment wave. “Headlines that would have pushed shares to fresh highs… are now being interpreted far more cautiously,” said Carlota Estragues Lopez, equity strategist at St. James’s Place. Reuters
The gap inside the AI trade keeps widening. Chipmakers and hardware firms are grabbing gains on the infrastructure boom. Meanwhile, a growing group of names is being marked as exposed to AI’s encroachment. “This divergence is not a vote against AI,” wrote Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo, who sees investors starting to separate “who enables AI and who may be disrupted.” Mark Hawtin at Liontrust put it bluntly: “The market is no longer tolerating spending for spending’s sake.” Reuters
The FTSE 100 in London nudged up 0.6% on Friday, according to Reuters, as gains among banking names outweighed weakness in data and analytics stocks. LSEG slipped for a third week in a row.
LSEG bought back 256,419 shares on Feb. 5, paying an average of 7,533.05 pence apiece. The move follows the buyback program it launched on Nov. 4, 2025. These shares are headed for cancellation. Reducing the share count usually lifts earnings per share, but it has no effect on demand for LSEG’s products.
Focus remains on whether the selloff in “AI-exposed” data stocks will ease or pick up steam once London trading resumes on Monday. U.S. megacaps have been driving the action, as fresh cues on AI capital spending continue to sway risk appetite.
The risk remains. If customers shift fast to cheaper AI alternatives and incumbents can’t hold on to their margins, valuations may keep taking hits from investors. In that picture, buybacks provide scant protection.
LSEG’s preliminary full-year 2025 results are on the calendar for Feb. 26, with CEO David Schwimmer and CFO Michel-Alain Proch taking the lead on the webcast.
