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Amid mixed PMI and strong retail sales data the FTSE 100 was broadly flat at midday, down just 4.49 points at 7,014.75.
Pharma giant AstraZeneca said its Covid-19 vaccine, Vaxzevria had been granted special approval for emergency use in Japan for active immunisation of individuals aged 18 years and older. Its share price ticked marginally higher to £81.32.
Real estate investment trust SERGO has announced an eight-year, €500 million (£431 million) senior unsecured green bond issue for the SERGO European Logistics Partnership (SELP) joint venture. It opened slightly down this morning at £10.31. Waste management firm Biffa surged 7.9% to 298.9p as it announced the acquisition of assets from rival Viridor for £126 million.
Merchant banking group Close Brothers said it continued to perform strongly in the third quarter amid growth in its lending and asset management business. It climbed 1.6% to £16.03.
Property company LondonMetric Property said it had acquired two vacant warehouse assets in Brent Cross and Streatham in London for a combined £13.5 million. It dipped slightly to 227.8p on the news.
Wealth manager Investec said it expected earnings to improve in fiscal 2022 after reporting a fall in annual profit as lower interest rates and pandemic-related weakness weighed on performance. It opened up 0.9% to 295.5p.
Diagnostics play Novacyt fell 13.2% to 364.4p as it warned a disputed contract with the Department for Health and Social Care would have a 'material impact' on revenue.
Shield Therapeutics, a commercial-stage pharmaceutical company with a focus on addressing iron deficiency, remains 'on track' to launch Accrufer in the US by end of June 2021. Its share price was up 5% to 60.7p.
Tracsis, a leading provider of software, hardware, data analytics/GIS and services for the rail, traffic data and wider transport industries, has welcomed the long-awaited Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail in the UK. It gained 4% to 842p.