Image Source: Pexels
U.K. equities remained largely unchanged on Thursday, despite a closely monitored index of U.K. home prices turning positive for the first time in nearly two years, buoyed by expectations of further interest rate reductions by the Bank of England. The benchmark FTSE 100 index edged slightly lower -0.02% in a relatively subdued session.In single stock stories, shares of British drugmaker GSK rise 5.4%, leading the FTSE 100 index. The shares are on track for the best one-day percentage gain since December 2022. GSK has settled about 80,000 or 93% of Zantac litigations for up to $2.2 billion, lower than the estimated costs of up to $3.5 billion. The company will also pay $70 million to settle a whistleblower lawsuit, without admitting wrongdoing. The stock has risen about 6% year-to-date.Shares of UK’s non-life insurers index rose 1.04%, outperforming the FTSE 100 index. Beazley, Lancashire, and Hiscox saw increases of 2.1%, 4.5%, and 1.5% respectively. Analysts expect lower-than-anticipated losses for insurers from Hurricane Milton, which made landfall as a category 3 storm. Initial estimates of up to $100 billion in global insurance industry losses have been revised downward to over $50 billion. Barclays estimates insured losses could be as low as $10 billion. BZG, HSX, and LRE were among the top gainers on the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 indices, while Direct Line and Admiral saw marginal changes.Indivior, a British pharmaceutical company, saw its stock price drop by 17.2%, the lowest level since January 2021. The stock was among the top losers on the London Stock Exchange. The company has cut its net revenue forecast for the second time in three months, now expecting full-year revenues to be between $1.13 billion and $1.17 billion, down from a prior range of $1.15-$1.22 billion. Indivior no longer expects its Sublocade treatment for opioid use disorder to reach a $1 billion net revenue run rate by the end of 2025. The company estimates its preliminary Q3 net revenues to be in the range of $302 million to $309 million. Including the session’s losses, the stock is down around 50% year-to-date.In broker updates, Shares of Premier Foods jumped as much as 2% to 186.2 pence, their highest since June 15, 2011. Barclays upgraded the stock to “Overweight” from “EqualWeight” and hiked the price target to 207 pence from 143 pence, citing lower food inflation levels in the UK and Premier Foods’ step-up in promotional activity, M&A activity, new category and international expansion as potential drivers of volume growth. Premier Foods reported a rise in first-quarter sales on the back of strong branded sales growth and maintained its forecast for the year. The stock had risen 34.66% year-to-date as of the previous close.
Technical & Trade ViewFTSE Bias: Bullish Above Bearish below 8225
More By This Author:The FTSE Finish Line – Wednesday, October 9FTSE Suffers As Still No Further Details Given About China StimulusFTSE Hugging The Flatline, Housebuidlers Bid On Bailey Comments
