Senior wins 10-year contracts with Collins, GSK to appeal Zantac ruling
London open
The FTSE 100 is expected to open 36 points higher on Tuesday, having closed down 0.2% on Monday at 8,228.48.
Stocks to watch
Aircraft and defence engineering specialist Senior said it had won 10-year production contracts worth $80m from Collins Aerospace to supply thrust reverser structural components for Boeing 787, Airbus A320neo and Airbus A220 aircraft. Deliveries started in January for Boeing and will commence January 2025 for Airbus, with the parts made at Senior's factory near San Diego in the US.
GSK has initiated an appeal against the Delaware Superior Court's recent decision permitting plaintiff expert testimony in the Zantac, or ranitidine, litigation, it announced Tuesday, claiming the ruling was inconsistent with previous applications of the Daubert standard. It said an application had been filed to seek interlocutory review by the Delaware Supreme Court, with Pfizer, Sanofi, and Boehringer Ingelheim also involved. GSK maintained that scientific consensus showed no reliable evidence linking ranitidine to cancer and is committed to defending itself in this litigation.
Bus and train operator FirstGroup hiked its dividend by 45% after a substantial jump in annual profits, and pointing to further growth in margins in the current financial year. However, the company said that while a number of risks facing the business had reduced during the year, helped by an improved inflationary outlook, challenges to do with industrial relations “still persist”, while it was mindful of a potential renationalisation of National Rail contracts as a result of Labour winning the upcoming election.
Newspaper round-up
One in three Asda staff have been attacked at work, according to research that included reports of workers being stabbed, punched and threatened with syringes. The poll of almost 1,000 members of GMB, one of the UK’s biggest unions, returned stories of delivery drivers being chased by people in cars, while store workers had food thrown at them. More than half (58%) of respondents said they had suffered injury or illness on the job. – Guardian
Tim Cook, the Apple CEO, announced a series of generative artificial intelligence products and services on Monday during his keynote speech at the company’s annual developer conference, WWDC, including “Apple Intelligence” and a deal with ChatGPT-maker OpenAI. The new tools mark a major shift toward AI for Apple, which has seen slowing global sales over the past year and integrated fewer AI features into its consumer-facing products than competitors. – Guardian
Elon Musk has said he could ban Apple devices from his companies over the tech giant’s deal to integrate ChatGPT into the iPhone, iPad and Mac. The Tesla boss said the decision was an “unacceptable security violation” and accused Apple of handing over user data to OpenAI, the firm behind the chatbot. – Telegraph
A higher share of pensioners are paying income tax than working people for the first time amid a surge in worklessness and Tory stealth raids, analysis has found. The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said 65pc of older Britons now pay tax on their income, up from just 48pc since 2010. It comes after the tax-free allowance for pensioners has been cut in real terms, while the state pension has risen by £3,700 to £11,502.40 since 2010 because of the triple lock. – Telegraph
Barclays is on the brink of renewing its long-standing link to the Premier League with a £75m deal which easily eclipses the value of its existing tie-up. Sky News has learnt that the British high street bank's proposed four-year agreement with English football's top flight was presented to its 20 clubs at a shareholder meeting last week. – Sky News
US close
Stocks on Wall Street showed modest gains on Monday, reflecting cautious optimism despite heightened political uncertainty following French President Emmanuel Macron's announcement of snap parliamentary elections.
The unexpected move, seen by many as a high-stakes gamble, has potential implications for political stability on both sides of the Atlantic.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.18% at 38,868.04.
The S&P 500 also saw a slight increase of 0.26% to end the day at 5,360.79, while the Nasdaq Composite outperformed the other indices with a gain of 0.35%, finishing at 17,192.53.
In currency markets, the dollar was last up 0.03% against sterling, reaching 78.57p.