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The FTSE 100 opened high this morning but slumped to 7,038 as of 8:50am, as concerns mount over the spread of the coronavirus delta variant, and investors mull potential withdrawal of central bank support.
Unease also started to set in following the US Federal Reserve announcement that the body would start easing its asset purchasing programme earlier than expected.
Pharma giant AstraZeneca said its rare disease business Alexion is discontinuing trial of a drug candidate to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a rare neurodegenerative disease due to a lack of efficacy.
Origin enterprises, the group focused on agri-services, has announces that Aidan Connolly has been appointed as an independent director.
Telecommunications services provider Airtel Africa said Qatar Holding had had reached first closing of the minority investment in Airtel's mobile money business.
LXi REIT announced several acquisitions including a Life Science and Biotech campus in York, STV's media studios and HQ facility in Glasgow, and waste recycling and storage facility in Aberdeen, for a combined £80 million.
AstraZeneca said results from a late-stage trial showed its COVID-19 combination antibody AZD7442 reduced the risk of developing symptomatic COVID-19 by 77%, meeting the primary goal of the study.
OneSavings Bank, the lending and retail sales bank based in Chatham, UK, has announced profits for the six months to 30 June 2021 climbed to £252.8 million, a 62% spike compared to the same period last year.
Cryptocurrency mining company Argo Blockchain said it had filed a registration statement with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission relating to a proposed initial public offering of its American Depositary Shares in the United States.
Slingsby, the commercial and industrial workplace supplies provider, has announced that for the period ending 30 June 2021, revenues had dropped £0.5 million, from £10 million to £10.5 million.
Insulation and building envelope solutions Kingspan reported higher first-half profit, driven by high levels of demand and a global recovery in the construction sector.
Logistics solutions company Clipper Logistics said it had won a new five-year contract with Ireland-based sports retailer Life Style Sports.
AstraZeneca 8,678 Origin Enterprises 3.48 Airtel Africa 93.50 LXI REIT 143.20 OneSavingsBank 488.80 Argo Blockchain 122.65 Kingspan 95.38