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* FTSE 100 down 0.2 percent, still near two-week high * ABF surges after posting higher profits * Bid speculation lifts AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN – news) for second day * Ex-divs knock 8.7 points off index By Tricia Wright LONDON, April 23 (Reuters) – Strength in Associated British Foods on U.S. growth prospects and in Read More

By Sudip Kar-Gupta LONDON (Reuters) – A rise in the share prices of Associated British Foods and drugmaker AstraZeneca buoyed Britain’s top equity index on Wednesday, leaving the market near a two-week high. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index edged up by 0.1 percent, or 3.61 points, to 6,685.37 points in early session trading. Clothing and Read More

LONDON, April 22 (Reuters) – The following FTSE 100 companies will go ex-dividend on Wednesday, after which investors will no longer qualify for the latest dividend payout. According to Reuters calculations at current market prices, the effect of the resulting adjustment to prices by market-makers would take 8.69 points off the index. COMPANY (RIC) DIVIDEND Read More

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(Reuters) – British Business Secretary Vince Cable on Tuesday warned banks and other major companies to rein in excessive executive pay or face tighter rules, in a letter aimed at Barclays (LSE:BARC) and other FTSE 100 companies ahead of their annual general meetings. In a letter to companies listed on the blue-chip FTSE 100 index Read More

* FTSE 100 gains 0.9 pct * AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN – news) surges on report of Pfizer (NYSE: PFE – news) approach * GlaxoSmithKline (Other OTC: GLAXF – news) jumps on asset swap with Novartis (Updates with closing prices, adds technical detail) By Alistair Smout LONDON, April 22 (Reuters) – Corporate activity in the pharmaceutical Read More

London (AFP) – Huge deal-making in the pharmaceutical sector pushed up London stocks on Tuesday, even though tension over the crisis in Ukraine lurked in the background, traders said. Shares in pharmaceutical groups surged owing to a major reshaping of the sector, driven by Novartis of Switzerland and GlaxoSmithKline in London. London’s benchmark FTSE 100 Read More

* FTSE 100 up 1 pct * AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN – news) surges on reported Pfizer (NYSE: PFE – news) bid interest * GlaxoSmithKline (Other OTC: GLAXF – news) jumps on asset swap with Novartis (Adds detail, quote, updates prices) By Alistair Smout LONDON, April 22 (Reuters) – Merger and acquisition activity in the pharmaceutical Read More

By This Is Money Reporters Published: 02:55 EST, 22 April 2014 | Updated: 02:57 EST, 22 April 2014 Bid talk: US rival Pfizer is rumoured to have approached AstraZeneca with a £60billion takeover offer The FTSE 100 has opened 34.2 points higher at 6,659.43, with AstraZeneca the top riser amid bid rumours. Shares in the Read More

Cast your mind back to the end of the last millennium and the dotcom boom. Companies were floating on the stock market left, right and centre, often with very little in the way of sales, let alone profits. It was “a new paradigm”, according to Lastminute.com’s Martha Lane Fox. But Lastminute’s flotation in March 2000 Read More