Standard Chartered helped the FTSE 100 carve out minor gains on Friday after the Asia-focused bank wrapped up FTSE 100 banking earnings with a very respectable set of results.
The FTSE 100 was trading just 0.1% higher at the time of writing and looked like it would have to rely on the US session for a catalyst.
“Financials were in demand after a strong set of results from Standard Chartered and miners also made some progress, but there was corresponding weakness in precious metals and energy stocks,” said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.
“Pharmaceutical firm GSK was also on the back foot amid speculation it could be targeted by activist investors after a long period of lagging behind its rivals.”
NatWest played catch-up with the rest of the banking sector and topped the FTSE 100 with a 4% gain. Despite the numbers not being particularly bad, there was a negative reaction to NatWest’s recent results, so some may have seen the relative weakness in shares as an opportunity.
Standard Chartered was close behind NatWest after revealing a bumper $1.5bn share buyback that far outstripped analyst estimates. Underlying Q4 operating income came in at $4.8bn, higher than the $4.5bn, and shares jumped 4% on Friday.
“Standard’s latest quarter showed continued momentum, powered by a rock-solid top line and impairments that didn’t bite as hard as expected – a pattern we’ve seen across the UK’s banking giants lately,” said Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown.
“Of course, a $342 million software impairment muddied the picture, but it won’t impact capital levels – strip it out, and pre-tax profits crushed forecasts. Standard’s Asian flair, particularly its non-interest income strength, lit up the scoreboard with wealth management shining bright. That sector’s booming in Asia, and Standard’s ready to ride the wave.”
With the FTSE 100 offering little movement, investors can find a slightly more upbeat news flow from China and developments in AI.
Since the emergence of Deepseek, closer attention has been paid to what’s happening in China in terms of AI developments and news that Alibaba plans a big push into the space was a big talking point on Friday after Chinese tech shares surged.
The strength in Chinese equities had marginal read-across into China-centric FTSE 100 stocks Prudential and Rio Tinto that ticked gently higher.