UK stocks were directionless by Friday lunchtime as investors awaited key monthly US jobs data due to be released at 1.30pm, with the consensus expectation that 650,00 new jobs were created in May, a sharp rebound on the underwhelming 266,000 new jobs in April.
At 12pm the FTSE 100 index was almost unchanged at 7,059 points with weakness in banks and travel-related stocks offset by domestically-focused retail stocks.
COMPANY NEWS
Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca (AZN) reported ‘statistically significant’ results from the latest phase 3 trials of its Lynparza breast cancer drug.
The data will be presented to the American Society of Clinical Oncology within days and Astra hopes to bring the drug to high-risk patients quickly.
Meanwhile, the firm announced the appointment of Aradhana Sarin, currently chief financial officer of Alexion Pharma, as its new group financial officer once the takeover of Alexion is completed in the third quarter. The shares ticked up 0.1% to £79.52.
Packaging firm Smurfit Kappa (SKG) revealed it had acquired a leading Peruvian packaging business, Cartones del Pacifico, for an undisclosed sum.
The business expands Smurfit’s footprint in the industrial and agricultural sectors in Latin America and the firm expects to extract efficiencies through applying its operating system and procurement arrangements. The shares dropped 1% to £37.28.
Shares in games software firm Frontier Developments (FDEV:AIM) gained 4.4% to £25.85 after it announced it would launch a new game based on the popular Warhammer brand in partnership with its creator Games Workshop (GAW).
‘Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate - Daemonhunters’ is expected to debut on PC next year on the Steam platform with further editions of the game expected in 2023. Games Workshop shares dropped 1.5% to £117.40.
Music royalty investor Hipgnosis (SONG) announced it had acquired the catalogue of Grammy-winning songwriter Joel Little, who is known for his hits with acts including Lorde and Taylor Swift. The firm added that Little’s songs have been streamed more than 15 billion times. The shares edged 0.2% higher to 124.6p.
ContourGlobal (GLO), the owner and operator of wholesale power assets, announced it had agreed the acquisition of Green Hunter Group in a joint venture with Energy Infrastructure Partners (EIP).
The solar assets owned by Green Hunter are based in Italy and provide long-term, contracted cash-flows with an average feed-in tariff period of 10 years. The shares eased back 1.2% to 193.2p.
Shares in Scotch whisky provider Artisanal Spirits (ART:AIM) jumped 5% to 117.5p on their first day of dealings after the firm placed 26 million shares at 112p.
The firm owns the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, which it describes as the leading curator and provider of premium single cask malts and other spirits, primarily online, to ‘a discerning global membership’.
