Kingfisher lifts lower end of guidance, GSK's Blenrep accepted for review in Japan

Stocks to watch

B&Q owner Kingfisher lifted the lower end of full year profit guidance as it posted interim results in line with expectations. The company on Tuesday said it now expected adjusted pre-tax profit of £510-550m, up from £490-550m. Pre-tax profit for the six months to July 31 rose 2.3% to £324m.

Japan’s health ministry has accepted for review a new drug application for GSK’s Blenrep blood cancer treatment, marking the third major regulatory filing acceptance for the drug. This follows marketing authorisation application acceptance by the European Medicines Agency in July and by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency in the UK earlier this month.

British American Tobacco announced the appointment of Kingsley Wheaton as its chief corporate officer on Tuesday - a newly-created role responsible for advancing the company's ‘Sustainable Future’ strategy. The FTSE 100 firm said the role would focus on tobacco harm reduction, transparent dialogue with regulators, and strengthening its sustainability credentials. Alongside Wheaton’s promotion, BAT also announced several other leadership changes, including Luciano Comin as chief marketing officer, effective immediately.

Newspaper round-up

Alison Rose, the former chief executive of NatWest, has taken a job as an adviser to one of the UK’s top law firms as she tries to return to the City after a career-damaging row with Nigel Farage last year. Rose is joining Mishcon de Reya as a diversity and inclusion adviser, a role that will involve mentoring some of the firm’s partners. She will also work closely with the equity, diversity and inclusion committee at the firm, which is known for having represented Diana, Princess of Wales during her divorce. – Guardian

The online gambling company Sky Betting & Gaming has been reprimanded by the data regulator for unlawfully sharing customers’ information with advertising companies that could then target those users with personalised marketing. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said it had investigated Bonne Terre Ltd, trading as Sky Betting & Gaming, after a complaint by the campaign group Clean Up Gambling. – Guardian

Airbus is preparing to revive plans for a new helicopter factory in the UK as part of its attempt to secure a £1bn contract from the Ministry of Defence (MoD). The manufacturing giant has indicated it could proceed with the plant after reversing its decision to pull out of the bidding to replace the RAF’s Puma helicopter fleet last month. At the time of its withdrawal, Airbus said the terms of the MoD’s tender weren’t sufficiently attractive for it to proceed. – Telegraph

“I made a series of mistakes and felt like a fool,” the boss of Boden has admitted after his preppy British fashion brand sank further into the red last year. Losses at the London-based clothing and lifestyle retailer widened to £9.4 million in the 12 months to the end of December, compared with a loss of £3.9 million in the previous year. – The Times

Amazon employees have been told to return to working from the office five days a week from the start of next year, as the giant online retailer reverses a host of pandemic-era policies. Hot-desking will be scrapped in offices which were previously designed to have allocated desks for individuals. Layers of management will be removed to cut back on unnecessary meetings. – The Times

US close

Stocks put in a mixed performance on Monday, with the Nasdaq falling into the red but the Dow reaching a new all-time high, though gains were modest as investors adopted a cautious approach ahead of a pivotal Federal Reserve meeting on Wednesday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.6% to a new closing high of 41,622.08, surpassing the previous record of 41,563.08 reached on 30 August.

A late rally saw the S&P 500 eke out a 0.1% gain after trading in the red for most of the session, but the Nasdaq fell 0.5%.

The subdued session follows some impressive gains made last week, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq surging 4% and 6%, respectively, after five consecutive positive sessions.

While an easing of monetary policy has been widely expected for some time, the jury's still out on the size of potential rate cut when the Fed's two-day policy meeting concludes this week, with investors divided between a 25 basis-point (bp) and 50bp reduction in the Federal Funds Rate.