London, Feb 27, 2026, 08:14 GMT — Regular session
RELX (REL.L) edged up 0.5% to 2,537.78 pence Friday morning in London. The information and analytics firm, listed on the LSE, surged 6.25% Wednesday, followed by a 4.55% gain Thursday.
RELX has emerged as something of a bellwether for the bruised software-and-data sector, bouncing back after AI turmoil rattled the group earlier this month. The FTSE 100 notched a record close on Thursday, with RELX up 4.6%—part of a wider snapback fueled by hopes that the Bank of England will trim rates again in March. “It is likely that the UK index’s outperformance is here to stay,” said Axel Rudolph, senior financial analyst at IG. Reuters
RELX has been in the market, picking up 500,000 of its own shares on Thursday via UBS, the company disclosed. Purchase prices landed between 2,386 and 2,523 pence, with the shares earmarked for treasury. That takes its tally since Jan. 2 to 19,730,085 shares bought back.
RELX is pressing ahead with an irrevocable, non-discretionary buyback, according to a U.S. filing, planning to spend £450 million between Feb. 12 and March 20. That comes right after wrapping up a £250 million programme on Feb. 6. In these setups, the broker sticks to preset rules, so share repurchases keep going, closed period or not.
RELX, in a fresh filing this week, moved to secure a block listing for 80,000 shares under its employee share purchase plan. The shares are set to be admitted on March 2.
AI is where the real debate is. RELX, earlier this month, flagged its AI-powered products as growth engines for “many years to come.” Finance chief Nick Luff says the company’s data and algorithms give professional users “the right judgments.” The previous selloff? That one rippled through rivals Wolters Kluwer and Thomson Reuters after Anthropic, the AI player, rolled out a plugin for its Claude chatbot. Reuters
The rally, though, could unravel in a hurry if the AI narrative sours again or enthusiasm for software-and-data stocks cools off. Buybacks might keep shares in check, but they can’t prop up sentiment. When risk appetite slips, stocks fueled by buzz tend to feel it right away.
RELX is set to deliver a trading update during its annual general meeting on April 23, marking the next major company event.
