Barclays reports 'another solid quarter', BP posts better-than-expected Q1 profits
By Iain Gilbert
Date: Tuesday 28 Apr 2026
(Sharecast News) - LONDON PRE-OPEN
The FTSE 100 was expected to open 14.3 points softer ahead of the bell on Tuesday, after wrapping up the previous session 0.56% lower at 10,321.09.
STOCKS TO WATCH
Barclays posted a solid first‑quarter performance on Tuesday, delivering double‑digit returns across all divisions, announcing a fresh share buyback and reiterating its medium‑term targets as it continued to push ahead with its strategic plan. Group income rose 6% year‑on‑year to £8.2bn, while net interest income excluding its investment banking unit and head office increased 12% to £3.4bn, keeping the group on track to meet its 2026 NII guidance. It also unveiled plans for a new £500m share buyback once the current £1bn programme is completed.
BP posted a better-than-expected first-quarter profit on Tuesday as the oil giant benefited from a surge in oil and gas prices. Underlying replacement cost profit - BP's preferred measure - came in at $3.2bn in the first three months of the year, up from $1.4bn in the same quarter a year earlier, and from $1.5bn in the final quarter of 2025. This was ahead of analysts' expectations of $2.6bn. BP said its underlying result reflected an "exceptional" oil trading contribution and stronger midstream performance.
NEWSPAPER ROUND-UP
Rachel Reeves should aim to run a "significantly larger" buffer against her fiscal rules, according to a report from a House of Lords committee that says the UK's public debt is on an unsustainable trajectory. The chancellor raised taxes at last year's budget in order to more than double the "headroom", or buffer, against her fiscal rules to £22bn - some of which is expected to be eroded by the impact of the Iran war. - Guardian
Britain has the third-highest rate of young people not in work or education among Europe's richest countries because of rising ill-health and a failing system of benefits and job support, a report has warned. The Resolution Foundation thinktank said the UK was facing a "crisis" in youth jobs amid a dramatic rise in the number of 16- to 24-year-olds who are not in education, employment or training to almost one million - the highest level in more than a decade. - Guardian
Rachel Reeves is considering freezing rents in an attempt to soften the fallout from the Iran war on household budgets, according to reports. The Chancellor's proposals would see landlords in England banned from raising rents for a year as part of a package of measures which are being considered in Government, The Guardian reported. - Telegraph
The UK has backed a British scientist's "self-learning" AI start-up that is promising to leapfrog rivals in the race to superintelligence. Ineffable Intelligence, founded by the former Google DeepMind executive David Silver, has raised a record $1.1bn (£810m) in a deal backed by the taxpayer. - Telegraph
The boss of Next has described Britain's planning system as the "single biggest drag on prosperity" and called for its abolition. In a keynote speech at the Margaret Thatcher Conference on prosperity on Monday, Lord Wolfson of Aspley Guise criticised previous failed attempts at reform, instead calling for "something more radical, that we abolish planning because planned economies don't work". - The Times
US CLOSE
Major indices turned a mixed performance on Monday, with market sentiment dominated by developments in the Middle East, while investors sat on their hands ahead of a busy few days for financial markets.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.08% at 49,189.56, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.15% to 7,175.59, and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.16% firmer at 24,876.29.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com
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