Next lifts full-year guidance, AstraZeneca clears regulatory hurdles

London open

The FTSE 100 is expected to open 90 points lower on Wednesday, having closed down 1.09% on Tuesday, at 5,728.99.

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Clothing retailer Next lifted full-year profit guidance after a better-than-expected rise in third quarter sales. The company on Wednesday forecast a pre-tax profit of £365m, up £65m from a central scenario given in September. Full price sales in the three months to October 24 rose 2.8% against last year. Total sales, including markdowns, were up 1.4%. Year end net debt was forecast to reduce by £487m to £625m.

AstraZeneca, along with its partner Daiichi Sankyo, said on Wednesday that ‘Enhertu’, or trastuzumab deruxtecan, has had its supplemental biologics license application accepted and been granted priority review by the US Food and Drug Administration, for the treatment of patients with HER2-positive metastatic gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma. The FTSE 100 company said that at the same time, China's National Medical Products Administration has updated the label for ‘Forxiga’ or dapagliflozin, to include data from the ‘DECLARE-TIMI 58’ phase 3 trial. It said that the trial demonstrated that Forxiga achieved a statistically significant reduction in the composite endpoint of hospitalisation for heart failure or cardiovascular death, compared to placebo, in adults with type-2 diabetes.

Newspaper round-up

The head of the UK’s leading employers’ organisation has stepped up pressure on the government to conclude trade talks with the EU so that the country can move on from the “suspended animation” of the past four years. Reflecting on her five years as director general of the CBI, Dame Carolyn Fairbairn said her biggest regret was that the issue had not been resolved earlier and warned ministers that businesses grappling with Covid-19 were unprepared for a hard Brexit. - Guardian

One in five young workers who were furloughed have lost their jobs even before a bleak winter that is expected to see surging unemployment, new research has revealed. Youth unemployment is thought to have hit 20pc - the highest since the aftermath of the financial crisis - as inexperienced workers bear the brunt of the jobs crisis, the Resolution Foundation warned. - Telegraph

Mercedes-Benz is to take a 20pc stake in Aston Martin as the embattled sports car manufacturer launches a surprise £1.25bn rescue deal. The German car maker is to supply Aston with technology such as engines and electric power trains valued at £286m as part of the deal, which also involves bringing in new investors and raising extra debt. - Telegraph

Almost half a million self-employed workers have banked an extra £1.3 billion from the taxpayer, despite suffering no loss of income during the pandemic, according to an analysis. In a survey of more than 6,000 people, the Resolution Foundation found that 17 percent of applicants who applied for the self-employed income support scheme did so despite suffering no hit to their incomes. This amounts to 435,000 workers. - The Times

Almost 85,000 additional companies are likely to be created this year compared with 2019 as the Covid-19 pandemic coincides with a spike in incorporation, according to research. An analysis of data from the past decade suggests that this year could set a record for growth in company registrations. - The Times

US close

Wall Street stocks turned in a mixed performance on Tuesday as an ever-increasing number of new Covid-19 cases continued to weigh on sentiment.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.80% at 27,463.19 and the S&P 500 was 0.30% softer at 3,390.68, while the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.64% firmer at 11,431.35.

The Dow Jones closed 222.19 points lower on Tuesday, extending losses recorded in its worst performance since early September after the US reported a daily record for new Covid-19 cases over the weekend.

A surge in new Covid-19 cases was still very much so at the forefront of investors' minds after the US reported a record average of 69,967 cases per day over the last week and a 5% rise in hospitalisations across 36 states in the last seven days.

Fading hopes for a stimulus package were also in focus, with Nancy Pelosi's spokesman saying the House Speaker was still "optimistic" that her and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin could strike a deal before the election on 3 November.