FTSE 100 opened in the green even though the UK economy rose only 0.1% in July after a 1% jump the previous month. London’s main index added 20 points to 7,044 in early trading.
Sarah Gilbert, the scientist behind the Oxford COVID-19 vaccine, said giving boosters to everyone won’t be necessary because immunity is lasting well. The professor said jabs should be sent to countries in need.
Petrol stations giant EG Group is reportedly mulling over a potential sale. The company, owned by the billionaire Issa brothers and private equity firm TDR Capital and who combined recently bought Asda, could raise up to US$15bn.
Ikea is thinking of buying Topshop's former flagship Oxford Street store in London. The collapsed retail giant Arcadia Group could use the proceeds to pay its creditors and the deficit in its pension funds.
Supermarket Income REIT PLC announced J Sainsbury PLC exercised a purchase option to buy back 13 stores. They are part of a joint venture portfolio the REIT holds with British Airways Pension Trustees Limited and underlines the strength of demand for grocery property in the UK said the trust.
Argo Blockchain PLC has secured an £18.05mln loan agreement with Galaxy Digital using a portion of its Bitcoin holding as collateral. The loan has a maturity date of 29 October 2021.
Among the small caps, Minds + Machines Group intends to return up to £58mln to shareholders through a tender offer at 9.6p per share. The money is a proportion of the proceeds from the sale of internet top-level domain assets.
