Sector movers: AstraZeneca leads Big Pharma lower
AstraZeneca
12,026.00p
17:14 25/04/24
Pharmaceuticals paced decliners on Monday as markets reacted poorly to the news of a $39bn cash and shares takeover offer for rare diseases specialist Alexion from the UK's AstraZeneca.
FTSE 100
8,078.86
17:14 25/04/24
FTSE 350
4,434.34
17:09 25/04/24
FTSE All-Share
4,387.94
16:49 25/04/24
Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology
22,750.48
17:09 25/04/24
Shares fell even as some analysts, such as those at Citi, said they liked the proposed deal "a lot".
Indeed, Citi described the so-called 'interloper risk' as "high".
Analysts at Olivetree on the other hand believed the risk that a bid for AstraZeneca itself, say from Pfizer, was only a "remote probability".
"An interloper bid for AZN should be considered a remote probability given increased [foreign direct investment] scrutiny in the U.K. as well as tax inversion incentives (now legislated away) being a primary driver of the previous approach," they said.
Oil and Gas and related equipment plays were also lower, despite gains in front month Brent oil futures to $50.11 a barrel on ICE.
Similarly, miners's shares were also lower ahead of a raft of Chinese activity data due out the next day, even as copper, steel and iron ore futures all moved higher.
Boosting the latter, JP Morgan upped its 2021-22 and long-term price forecasts for iron ore on the back of forecasts for strong growth in steel output worldwide and Vale's recent downgrade of its guidance for output.
Going the other way, Autos and Parts benefitted from news that the UK and the European Union had decided to extend Brexit talks and after the EUs top negotiator, Michel Barnier, said he spied a potential narrow path forwards for talks.
Top performing sectors so far today
Automobiles & Parts 3,759.97 +3.22%
General Retailers 2,457.38 +2.96%
Electricity 8,469.87 +2.84%
Forestry & Paper 20,094.63 +2.59%
Fixed Line Telecommunications 1,633.37 +2.26%
Bottom performing sectors so far today
Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology 16,378.79 -3.77%
Oil & Gas Producers 4,734.48 -2.18%
Oil Equipment, Services & Distribution 5,786.94 -1.89%
Personal Goods 37,026.66 -1.18%
Mining 21,786.31 -1.16%