Bellway reports strong demand, AstraZeneca Covid-19 treatment disappoints

London open

The FTSE 100 is expected to open 26 points higher on Tuesday, having closed up 0.18% on Monday at 7,146.68.

Stocks to watch

Bellway reported strong demand for new homes in the second half of its financial year as buyers looked for larger properties with home-working space. The company on Tuesday lifted its forecasts for the average selling price to £300,000 from £293,000. The order book rose 20.5% to £1.89bn in the four months to June 6.

AstraZeneca announced results from the ‘STORM CHASER’ trial assessing the safety and efficacy of antibody combination AZD7442 for the prevention of symptomatic Covid-19, in participants recently exposed to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, on Tuesday. The FTSE 100 pharmaceutical giant said the trial did not meet the primary endpoint of post-exposure prevention of symptomatic Covid-19 with AZD7442, compared to placebo.

Newspaper round-up

Plans by City banks to bring thousands of workers back to the office are in disarray after Boris Johnson postponed a lifting of lockdown restrictions. Guidelines encouraging people to “continue to work from home if you can” in England were due to be dropped on 21 June, but that move will now be delayed by four weeks. - Guardian

Business groups have warned that pubs, bars, restaurants and nightclubs face significant hardship or collapse after the easing of Covid-19 restrictions in England was postponed for four weeks without new financial support from the government. Full reopening without measures such as social distancing will not be allowed until 19 July, Boris Johnson said on Monday, with a review in two weeks’ time “unlikely” to result in an earlier relaxation. - Guardian

The owners of Stobart Air are in talks to secure £120m of emergency funding after being left on the hook for aircraft lease payments worth tens of millions of pounds. Esken, the London-listed conglomerate formally known as Stobart Group, is closing in on a deal to sell a 30pc interest in Southend Airport to buyout fund Carlyle. - Telegraph

Vodafone has selected a group of largely American and Asian suppliers to power its next-generation mobile network as the industry prepares for the ban on Huawei. The telecoms operator has awarded a contract to Samsung Electronics, NEC, Dell and Wind River to build the first open radio access network in Europe. The deal boosts the emergence of alternative suppliers to compete with Ericsson and Nokia, the Scandinavian groups that, along with the Chinese company, have dominated the equipment market for a decade. - The Times

The chief executive of Rolls-Royce has described the engine-maker’s workforce as “frankly a bit too old”. Warren East’s comments at an industry conference have drawn criticism in an era of workforce inclusivity and for appearing to indicate that he was blaming ageing Rolls’ workers for the company’s struggles. - The Times

US close

Stocks on Wall Street finished Monday’s session as they started, in a mixed state, as investors closed their pocketbooks ahead of the outcome of the Federal Reserve's policy meeting on Wednesday.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.25% at 34,393.75, while the S&P 500 added 0.18% to 4,255.15 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.74% to 14,174.14.

Sophie Griffiths, market analyst at Oanda, said that any sign that central banks were looking to rein in policy accommodation could "spook" investors, meaning the time to start reducing bond purchases could be approaching.

Analysts at Barclays Research, meanwhile, said they believed that while the Fed would begin the "taper” at Wednesday's meeting, they would be "careful" not to disturb markets, being mindful of the temper tantrum that ensued around the same time in 2013.

The spotlight in the corporate arena was firmly on Novavax, which was down 0.94% even after the biotech outfit reported 90% efficacy for its Covid-19 vaccine in a large clinical trial.