AstraZeneca gets Japan drug approvals, Fresnillo reports Juanicipio progress

London open

The FTSE 100 is expected to open 35 points higher on Wednesday, having closed up 0.05% at 7,473.01 on its last trading day, 23 December.

Stocks to watch

AstraZeneca's immunotherapies Imfinzi and Imjudo have been approved in Japan for the treatment of three cancer types, it announced on Wednesday - advanced liver, biliary tract and lung. The FTSE 100 pharmaceuticals giant said the approvals would authorise Imfinzi in combination with Imjudo for the treatment of adult patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and for the treatment of adult patients with unresectable, advanced or recurrent non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in combination with chemotherapy. Imfinzi was also authorised for the treatment of adult patients with unresectable HCC as monotherapy and for the treatment of adult patients with curatively unresectable biliary tract cancer (BTC) in combination with chemotherapy.

Fresnillo confirmed on Wednesday morning that the final testing of the downstream power distribution and control systems at the Juanicipio project was now complete. The FTSE 100 company said that concluded the additional testing requested by the state-owned power company, CFE, to verify compatibility between new and updated substation equipment installed by Fresnillo on behalf of Fresnillo and MAG Silver. As such, the entire system had now been energised, and commissioning of the project had formally started.

Newspaper round-up

Thousands of middle-class families could face an effective tax rate of up to 96 per cent next year because of a crossover of two child welfare systems. The Resolution Foundation think tank has warned that a “collision” between the income levels at which universal credit and child benefit are withdrawn will mean a steep increase in the number of families hit. - The Times

A flurry of rescue deals will take place in 2023 as a growing number of retailers are pushed to the brink of collapse, experts predict. Kien Tan, retail strategy director at PwC, told The Telegraph he expected to see a rise in “opportunistic” deals in which “good brands that are in financial difficulty get saved by strong, well capitalised, UK or international trade buyers who have a strategic intent”. - Telegraph

Tesla shares fell on Tuesday to their lowest in more than two years, marking the company’s worst day in eight months, as Elon Musk’s electric carmaker confronts a rocky financial period. The company’s stock has lost more than half its value since the start of October. Investors worry that Twitter is taking much of Musk’s time, now that he is the social network’s owner and CEO. - Guardian

The boards of Britain’s blue-chip companies took advantage of the stock market malaise to buy back a record amount of their shares this year, reinforcing perceptions of the FTSE 100 as home to low-growth dinosaurs. Companies listed on the index launched £55.2 billion of share buyback programmes in 2022, according to data from AJ Bell, the investment platform. The total was “way in excess” of the previous £34 billion record in 2018. - The Times

Drivers face higher prices at the pumps as the easing of China's coronavirus restrictions pushes up the price of oil. The price of Brent crude has jumped from $76 per barrel to $84 since Beijing dropped "zero Covid" rules following widespread protests on December 8. - Telegraph

US close

Stocks were in a mixed state at the closing bell on Wall Street on Tuesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.11% at 33,241.56.

The S&P 500, meanwhile, fell 0.4% to 3,829.25, and the Nasdaq Composite slid 1.38% to 10,353.23.