Vox Markets Logo

London pre-open: Stocks seen lower after downbeat Asia session

06:40, 20th September 2021

(Sharecast News) - London stocks were set to slump at the open on Monday following a downbeat session in Asia.
The FTSE 100 was called to open 53 points lower at 6,910.

CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: "With Japan and mainland markets in China closed today, this morning's Asia session has been a negative one as concerns over the future of Chinese real estate company Evergrande increase further sending the Hang Seng sharply lower.

"As a consequence today's European open looks set to be a negative one, with the FTSE 100 looking set to open at its lowest levels since 22nd July. The newly formatted DAX is also expected to open lower in a similar fashion.

"As we come to the end of the month, it looks increasingly likely that we'll see the first negative month since January for the S&P500 and the DAX, with the bigger question being have we seen the highs for this year, or is this just another opportunity to buy the dip?"

In corporate news, energy group SSE said it had made no decision on whether to split off its renewables business after reports that activist hedge fund Elliott Management was pressuring for a breakup of the firm.

SSE said it would provide an update on plans to "further accelerate growth" with its interim results in November.

US-based Elliott has built a stake in the London-listed power provider, which has reorganised its portfolio in recent years to focus on low-carbon businesses such as electricity networks and renewables.

AstraZeneca said that detailed positive results from the head-to-head 'DESTINY-Breast03' phase 3 trial showed that Enhertu, or trastuzumab deruxtecan, demonstrated superior progression-free survival compared to trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1).

The FTSE 100 pharmaceutical giant said Enhertu is a HER2-directed antibody drug conjugate (ADC) that it has developed with Daiichi Sankyo, while T-DM1 is a HER2-directed ADC currently approved to treat patients with HER2-positive unresectable or metastatic breast cancer previously treated with trastuzumab and a taxane.

It said that at a prespecified interim analysis, Enhertu demonstrated a 72% reduction in the risk of disease progression or death compared to T-DM1.

TwitterFacebookLinkedIn

Disclaimer & Declaration of Interest

The information, investment views and recommendations in this article are provided for general information purposes only. Nothing in this article should be construed as a solicitation to buy or sell any financial product relating to any companies under discussion or to engage in or refrain from doing so or engaging in any other transaction. Any opinions or comments are made to the best of the knowledge and belief of the writer but no responsibility is accepted for actions based on such opinions or comments. Vox Markets may receive payment from companies mentioned for enhanced profiling or publication presence. The writer may or may not hold investments in the companies under discussion.

Recent Articles
Watchlist