Marshalls cuts its annual guidance, AstraZeneca gets fresh approval for Farxiga

Stocks to watch

Landscaping materials group Marshalls cut annual guidance after like-for-like sales fell 14% in the first four months of the year due to a reduction in new house building and continued weakness in private housing maintenance activity. In the first quarter of the year, National House Building Council new housing starts were 27% lower year on year, which hit all the group's reporting segments, Marshalls said on Tuesday. "Management have acted quickly to reduce costs in the business and are accelerating plans to improve production efficiency, whilst ensuring flexibility to respond when market demand improves," it added.

AstraZeneca's Farxiga drug has been approved in the US to reduce the risk of cardiovascular death, hospitalisation for heart failure and urgent heart failure visits in adults, the company said on Tuesday. The approval by the Food and Drug Administration was based on positive results from the DELIVER Phase III trial.1 Farxiga was previously approved in the US for adults with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction.

Newspaper round-up

Consumers are cutting back on purchases amid growing pressure on the Bank of England to tame inflation. Retail sales increased 5.2% on a like-for-like basis in April compared with the same period a year earlier, according to data from the British Retail Consortium and the consultancy KPMG. – Guardian

Royal Mail boss Simon Thompson is expected to step down within weeks, after a turbulent two-year stint at the helm. The chief executive has been accused by unions of inflaming the bitter industrial dispute, and his credibility was put in question after a Commons select committee appearance. – Guardian

Britain's tourist tax has left Heathrow with empty shops that it is struggling to fill, the airport has claimed, as pressure mounts on Rishi Sunak to reverse his raid on travellers. The UK's largest airport said eighteen stores, including those run by British luxury designer Mulberry, jewellery company APM Monaco, watchmaker Rolex and currency exchange business Travelex, had been shut "as a direct response" to the tax. – Telegraph

Energy suppliers should renegotiate tariffs signed at sky-high prices last year or risk the future of more than 90,000 small businesses, a leading lobby group has warned. The Federation of Small Businesses said that more than a tenth of small businesses had fixed their energy prices during the peak of the market in the second half of last year. – The Times

The boss of Mango has been spurred on to open more shops in Britain after being handed an award from the UK embassy in recognition of its expansion in the country. Toni Ruiz, chief executive of the Spanish retailer, is aiming to open 13 new shops in the UK by the end of this year in locations including Bristol, Brighton, Stratford in east London and Manchester. - The Times

US close

Stock indices closed in a mixed state on Wall Street on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.17% at 33,618.69.

The S&P 500, however, eked out gains of 0.05% to 4,188.12, and the Nasdaq Composite was ahead 0.18% at 12,256.92.