The FTSE 100 index closed Monday down 0.5% to 7527 points dragged by Astrazeneca while miners and oil-exposed stocks limited the fall. Astrazeneca shares plummeted 8% on the back of disappointing results of a lung cancer treatment. "The outcome of the trial was a positive one, however analysts have suggested a lack of clarity over survival improvement rates is behind today's share price weakness," CMC Markets U.K. Chief Market Analyst Michael Hewson says in a note. On the positive side, Ocado shares closed up 5.95% and outperformed the index, followed by miners Anglo American and Glencore, up 4.3% and 3.25%, respectively, supported by firmer metals prices. BP and Shell closed up 2.7% and 1.6% after Russia and Saudi Arabia announced an extension to existing output cuts, Hewson adds


COMPANIES NEWS:

IG Group CEO June Felix to Take Medical Leave

IG Group Holdings on Monday said its Chief Executive Officer June Felix is taking medical leave from the business for a short period of time.

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Yourgene Health Agrees to GBP16.7 Mln Takeover by Novacyt

Yourgene Health said Monday that it has agreed to a 16.7 million pound ($21.2 million) takeover by French peer Novacyt.

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Centralnic Group Increases Buyback Program by GBP30 Mln

Centralnic Group on Monday said it has expanded the size of its current 4 million-pound ($5.1 million) share buyback to a maximum of GBP34 million in line with its renewed capital-allocation policy.

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Hamak Gold Raises GBP350,000 in Share Subscription

Hamak Gold said Monday that it has raised 350,000 pounds ($444,500) in a share subscription at a price of 8.75 pence each, which is a discount of 5.4% to Friday's closing price.

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Blancco Technology Sees FY 2023 Results Beating Views

Blancco Technology Group on Monday said it expects to report results for fiscal 2023 above market expectations, driven by growth across its geographies, a high level of repeat revenues and conversion of new business opportunities.

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Zanaga Iron Ore Enters Equity Subscription Agreement; Swung to 2022 Pretax Profit

Zanaga Iron Ore said Monday it has entered into an equity subscription agreement with Shard Merchant Capital, or SMC, and that it swung into pretax profit for 2022 after booking lower costs.

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Keras Resources Shares Suspended on Delay of 2022 Financial Report

Keras Resources said Monday that its shares will be suspended as it postpones its annual financial report following a delay of funds received and payed.

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LendInvest Gets GBP500 Mln in Funding From Chetwood Financial

LendInvest on Monday said it received a 500 million-pound ($635 million) investment to fund part of its future mortgage originations from Chetwood Financial.

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Alien Metals Gets $1 Mln Funding Facility

Alien Metals said Monday that it entered into a short-term funding facility of up to $1 million to meet immediate and medium-term need.

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Science in Sport Trading Halted Due to 2022 Accounts Delay

Science in Sport said Monday that trading in its shares has been temporarily suspended as it has been unable to publish its 2022 earnings by the regulatory deadline.

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Argo Blockchain Executive Pay Resolution Rejected by Shareholders

Argo Blockchain on Monday said its resolution on executive pay failed to pass at its annual general meeting.

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UK Commercial Property REIT Appoints Peter Pereira Gray as Chairman From July 31

UK Commercial Property REIT said Monday that Peter Pereira Gray has been appointed as chairman from July 31, replacing Ken McCullagh, who will retire on the same date.

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Eurasia Mining Shares Rise on Approval of Definitive Feasibility Study for Russian Project

Shares in Eurasia Mining rose Monday after the company said the definitive feasibility study has been approved for its Monchetundra project in northwest Russia, raising the likelihood of a sale of the project.

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Public Policy Holding Appoints Roel Smits as CFO

Public Policy Holding on Monday said it has named Roel Smits as its chief financial officer effective immediately, replacing Bill Chess who is becoming chief administrative officer.

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Tesco Taps Tate & Lyle, Burberry Chairman Gerry Murphy -- Update

Tesco said Saturday that Gerry Murphy has been appointed chairman and will join the board on Sept. 1, replacing John Allan who stepped down in June following claims that he acted inappropriately toward several women.

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Pittards, GoldStone Resources and Eco Buildings Shares Temporarily Suspended

Pittards, GoldStone Resources and Eco Buildings Group on Monday said trading in their respective shares has been temporarily suspended pending the publication of their audited accounts for 2022.

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Panthera Resources Shares Fall on LCM Financing Due Diligence Extension

Shares of Panthera Resources fell as much as 24% on Monday after the company said that it has extended the due diligence date for the $10.5 million in litigation financing with LCM Funding SG by two weeks.

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Star Phoenix's Chair Reelection Fails to Pass at AGM

Star Phoenix Group Ltd. said Monday that the resolution to reappoint its Chair Lubing Liu has failed to pass at the annual general meeting.

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Zenith Energy Awarded EUR30,000 in Compensatory Damages by French Court

Zenith Energy said Monday that its subsidiary Anglo African Oil & Gas Congo has been awarded a 30,000 euros ($32,740) payment for compensatory damages by the Paris Commercial Court.

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WANdisco Launches $30 Mln Fund Raising

WANdisco said Monday that it is raising $30 million via a share placing and subscription and will use the money to support its turnaround plan, as previously announced, and that it is focused on becoming cash break-even during 2024 and 2025.

MARKET TALK:

Lithium Price Recovery Faces Headwind From Rising Supply

1109 GMT - Rising supply of battery-metal lithium is likely to check its price recovery, despite improving demand from China for electric vehicles helping to boost prices in recent weeks. Prices for lithium carbonate in China are now hovering at around $39,000 a metric ton, having recovered from lows of $21,000 a ton in April, Morgan Stanley points out in a note. Much of the recent recovery has come from Chinese EV and battery sales picking up, MS says. However, the price is still down sharply from the $67,000 a ton it started the year at, with rising supply a headwind. "While we model demand rising 20% this year, supply rises even more by 31% or 221,000 tons," largely from production increases in China and Australia, it said. (yusuf.khan@wsj.com)

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JD Sports's Middle East Franchise-Deal Profit Likely to Be Limited

1051 GMT - JD Sports Fashion's franchise agreement with GMG to bring the fashion retailer to the Middle East has an immaterial impact in terms of group profitability, Investec analysts Kate Calvert and Ben Hunt say in a note. The franchise model--the first agreed by JD--is for a high-returning income stream while virtually no capital is employed, however profits are limited given that a typical franchisee tends to pay around 5% of sales as a franchise fee, they say. Investec has a buy rating on JD's stock and a target price of 300 pence. (michael.susin@wsj.com)


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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

07-03-23 1217ET