Shire gets lifitegrast approval, Grafton warns of slowdown

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The FTSE 100 index is predicted to fall 10 points on Tuesday morning, according to pre-market trading.

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The US Food and Drug Administration has approved Shire's lifitegrast eye drops for treating signs and symptoms of dry eye disease. Lifitegrast, to be sold under the Xiidra name, is expected to launch in the third quarter.

Builders merchant and DIY retailer Grafton Group said like-for-like revenue growth was negative in June as the current uncertainty about Brexit weighed on the building trade. Group revenue for the six months to 30 June increased by 13.3% to £1.23bn and by 11.7% in constant currency.

Husebuilder and construction group Galliford Try said it expects to report record full year results, with profit before tax in line with management's expectations. Despite the political and economic uncertainty, the FTSE 250 company said it was "too early" to predict specific effects on our markets, but took confidence from the strength of underlying demand for new homes and the continuing availability of mortgage finance and the government's Help-to-Buy scheme for both sides of the business.

Newspaper round-up

Mark Carney faces a bruising encounter this morning in his first appearance before MPs since the vote to quit the European Union. The governor of the Bank of England is expected to be taken to task over his suggestion before the poll that interest rates could rise if Britain decided to leave, before flatly contradicting his suggestion only days after the result. - The Times

A fundamental relationship between bonds and equities has broken down as the pressure for returns intensifies in an ever-expanding world of negative interest rates. An insatiable thirst for income has driven both US bond yields and equity prices — two areas that traditionally move in opposite directions — into record territory. - Financial Times

The US government decided not to pursue criminal charges against HSBC for allowing terrorists and drug dealers to launder millions of dollars after George Osborne and the UK banking regulator intervened to warn that prosecuting Britain’s biggest bank could lead to a “global financial disaster”. A congressional report published letters and emails from Osborne and Financial Services Authority (FSA) officials to their US counterparts warning that launching criminal action against HSBC in 2012 could have sparked a “financial calamity”. - Guardian

US close

US stocks finished higher on Monday as investor sentiment continued to be lifted by last Friday’s strong jobs report.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 0.44%, the S&P 500 rose 0.34% to a record close of 2137.16 and the Nasdaq edged up 0.64%.

In contrast, oil prices headed south on renewed concerns about a global supply glut after data on Friday from industry group Baker Hughes showed the number rigs looking for oil in the US rose by 10 to a total of 351.