James Fisher buys Cowan Manufacturing, Polymetal ups stake in Prognoz property

London open

The FTSE 100 is expected to open 13 points higher on Monday, having closed up 0.83% at 7,294.70 on Friday.

Stocks to watch

James Fisher said it had bought Australian recompression chamber maker Cowan Manufacturing for AUD $2.6m (£1.5m) in cash. Cowan, based in New South Wales, designs, makes, installs transportable recompression chamber systems and other life support equipment for the Australian navy and wider international defence market.

Polymetal International on Monday said it had agreed to increase its stake in the Russian Prognoz silver property to 50% from 45% for $72m to be paid in Polymetal shares.

AstraZeneca and MedImmune, its global biologics research and development arm, announced on Monday that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Imfinzi for the treatment of patients with unresectable Stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), whose disease has not progressed following concurrent platinum-based chemotherapy and radiation therapy (CRT). “The approval of Imfinzi in this earlier stage of non-small cell lung cancer is a truly meaningful milestone for patients who, until now, had no FDA-approved treatment options following chemoradiation therapy,” said executive vice-president, head of AstraZeneca’s oncology business unit Dave Fredrickson.

Newspaper round-up

The average price of a UK property coming on to the market has risen by more than £2,400 in a month to just over £300,000 amid evidence of “record” levels of house-hunting activity, according to Rightmove. The website, which tracks 90% of the UK property market, said the national average asking price for a home had increased by 0.8% during the past month, following the 0.7% rise it reported in mid-January. – Guardian

Sir Philip Green is thought to be considering the sale of his Topshop-to-Burton empire Arcadia as a Chinese textiles giant reportedly looks over its books. Green is thought to be seeking an exit from the group as his ageing, poor-performing brands including Dorothy Perkins, Wallis and Evans come under attack from fast-expanding online players such as Boohoo and Missguided. – Guardian

One of Carillion’s largest shareholders was lining up to sue the group for loss of its clients’ money when the firm collapsed, as investors said the board failed to effect change as the company floundered. A letter sent from Kiltearn Partners’ chief executive Murdoch Murchison to the House of Commons select committee leading the inquiry on Carillion’s downfall said that if it had not gone into liquidation, the company would have “considered participation in civil legal action against Carillion with a view to recovering a proportion of its clients’ crystallised losses”. – Telegraph

The UK’s competition watchdog is launching a crackdown on cartels after the success of its first advertising campaign led to a rise in tip-offs about illegal activity. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) paid for adverts for the first time last year to encourage tip-offs about potential price-fixing activity. - Telegraph

Savers are being tricked out of half a million pounds every day after a surge in criminals targeting British pension riches, The Times can reveal. People with nest eggs to invest, including those with new freedoms to access their pensions, are falling for well-resourced foreign fraudsters impersonating the identities of legitimate companies. Investigations into “clone fraud” have almost doubled over the past year, according to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the City’s chief watchdog, with some victims losing hundreds of thousands of pounds. – The Times

The government must guarantee that it will not interfere with the way industry standards are set in the UK after Brexit, three of Britain’s biggest business groups have warned. Many businesses are concerned that the government may choose to establish new UK rules and standards of its own once Britain has left the EU in order to simplify regulations. – The Times

US close

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended Friday’s session ahead 0.08% at 25,219.38, while the S&P 500 eked out gains of 0.04% to 2,732.22 and the Nasdaq 100 lost 0.36% to 6,770.66.