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UK stocks edged higher in early trade on Monday after a huge tanker blocking the Suez Canal was re-floated, raising hopes the vital shipping corridor will reopen but hurting oil prices.
At 0819, the benchmark FTSE 100 index was up 5.23 points at 6,745.82.
Pizza chain Domino's Pizza inched up less than 0.1% to 351.5p after it agreed to sell its Iceland business for ISK 2.4 billion, or about £13.7 million, to PPH.
Proceeds from the sale, still subject to competition approval in Iceland, would initially be used to reduce debt, Domino's said.
Bowling alley operator Ten Entertainment shed 1.2% to 227.2p, having swung to a £17.7 million full-year loss after Covid-19 lockdowns crunched sales.
Ten Entertainment said it intended to reopen all of its centres on 17 May, based on the UK government's lockdown-easing roadmap.
Vietnamese company investor VinaCapital Vietnam Opportunity Fund firmed 0.8% to 416.31 as it upped its interim dividend on the back of a positive first-half performance.
VinaCapital's net asset value total return per share for the six months through December amounted to 28%. It increased its dividend to 6c per share, up from 5.5c year-on-year.
Biotechnology company Destiny Pharma rallied 31% to 209p after it released positive clinical trial results for a nasal gel designed to prevent post-surgical infections. The gel, known as XF-73, achieved reduced Staphylococcus aureus bacterial nasal carriage by 99.5%.
Nanomaterials manufacturer Nanoco climbed 11% to 23.95p on announcing that a trial date had been set in October for its patent infringement case against Samsung.
Rocky Mountain focused oil company Zephyr Energy jumped 12% to 2.31p, even as it launched a discounted £10 million share issue to fund a well in Utah and cover acquisitions in the Bakken formation in North Dakota.
New shares in the company were being offered at 2p each, a 2.5% discount to Zephyr Energy's closing price on Friday.
Real estate investment trust LXi REIT gained 0.3% to 122p amid news that it had acquired seven grocery stores from six different developers for a combined £85 million.
The assets included a Lidl store in London, an Asda store in Glasgow; a Tesco store in London, an Aldi store in Denbighshire and some Co-op convenience stores.
German residential property investor Phoenix Spree Deutschland added 0.3% to 331p, having posted a rise in annual profit on higher rental income, despite rent caps being imposed by authorities in Berlin.
The rent caps, or Mietendeckel, would continue to materially impact collected rents in 2021 compared to 2020 unless a legal challenge was successful, Phoenix Spree said.
Specialist cleaning company React rallied 9.6% to 2.16p on news that it had acquired commercial cleaner Fidelis Contract Services for up to £4.75 million.
Birmingham-headquartered Fidelis provided services to customers across England and Wales.