Vistry slashes profit guidance, AstraZeneca pulls EU application for Dato-DXd

London open

The FTSE 100 is expected to open 56 points higher for the truncated Christmas Eve session on Tuesday, having closed up 0.22% on Monday at 8,102.72.

Stocks to watch

House builder Vistry slashed profit guidance on Tuesday citing delays to expected year-end transactions and completions. The company said it now expected adjusted profit before tax for the year to December 31 to be around £250m, compared with previous guidance of £300m. Vistry said a number of agreements with partners had taken longer to conclude and forecast these to be finished in fiscal 2025 and also pulled a number of proposed deals where the commercial terms on offer “were not sufficiently attractive”.

AstraZeneca has pulled the European marketing authorisation application for its non-small cell lung cancer treatment based on the results of the recent phase III trial. The filing for datopotamab deruxtecan (Dato-DXd), jointly developed by AstraZeneca and Japanese pharma group Daiichi Sankyo, was voluntarily withdrawn after feedback from the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use of the European Medicines Agency, the company said on Tuesday.

Harworth Group announced the completion of the £53.5m sale of its 278-acre Ansty strategic land site in Warwickshire on Tuesday, to Rugbyalpha Freeholdco, following the successful grant of hybrid planning permission. The FTSE 250 company acquired the site, located near junction two of the M6, in 2019, with further land assembly conducted over two years to enhance its value. It said the sale proceeds, representing a premium to the June book value, would be reinvested into infrastructure and development within its industrial and logistics pipeline.

Newspaper round-up

Millions of vulnerable UK households on prepayment meters could see their energy bills consume almost a third of their incomes this winter. As temperatures drop across the country, the Resolution Foundation said a combination of higher gas and electricity prices and the typical seasonal increase in energy usage over the colder months would hit poorer families most. – Guardian

Morrisons shoppers have been left unsure whether their Christmas orders will arrive on time after the supermarket chain was hit by IT problems, prompting the retailer to offer discounts. The supermarket chain is giving loyalty card holders 10% off an entire shop on Monday and on Christmas Eve after a glitch hit the promotional scheme, and it discounted prices on some items for all shoppers. – Guardian

BMW has admitted to selling more than 100 high-end cars to Russians despite international sanctions. The German carmaker confirmed a report by Business Insider that revealed premium cars had been sold to Russian buyers, despite an embargo on car exports to the country introduced after the Kremlin launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. – Telegraph

The drug technology company BenevolentAI is looking at relisting from 2026 — and would consider floating in London. BenevolentAI announced plans this month to delist from Euronext Amsterdam alongside further job losses and cost-cutting after its founder, Ken Mulvany, regained control of the board following an activist campaign. – The Times

US close

US stocks finished Monday's session higher despite a batch of mixed economic data, with the Dow rising for the third straight day as indices continue their attempted recovery from last week's sell-off.

With little to no corporate news moving blue chip stocks during the session, the focus was on economic data, which showed declines in both durable-goods orders and consumer confidence and an increase in new home sales.

Nevertheless, Wall Street trading was expected to be somewhat muted this week, with the NYSE shutting up shop early on Tuesday for the festive break and not opening again until Thursday.

The Dow gained 0.2% to 42,096.65, inching higher for the third consecutive session following a 10-day losing streak which saw the index drop 6% of its value.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq both rose for the second straight day, gaining 0.8% and 1.0% respectively.