AstraZeneca announces positive bladder cancer trial results, Landsec raises Bluewater stake

Stocks to watch

AstraZeneca announced on Tuesday that a recent trial revealed that ‘Imfinzi’, or durvalumab, combined with chemotherapy, significantly enhanced event-free survival (EFS) and overall survival (OS) in patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) compared to chemotherapy alone. The FTSE 100 pharmaceutical giant said the regimen, involving Imfinzi both before and after bladder removal surgery, was the first immunotherapy approach to successfully extend survival in bladder cancer patients. It also confirmed that Imfinzi was well-tolerated, maintaining consistent safety profiles without increasing treatment discontinuation rates.

Real estate group Landsec has raised its stake in Kent’s Bluewater Shopping Centre to 66.25% after a further £120m investment. The company announced on Tuesday it had completed the acquisition of an additional 17.5% shareholding from Singaporean investment firm GIC. The deal raises Landsec’s net rental income by £10.3m on an annualised basis.

Newspaper round-up

EDF, Utilita and British Gas have been named as the worst energy suppliers for customer service, as research shows industry standards have slipped sharply. Citizens Advice said customer service ratings across the industry were among the lowest ever between January and March and average ratings had fallen by 10.5% compared with the same period in 2021. – Guardian

Qantas has dropped out of a ranking of the top 20 best airlines in the world a month after it agreed to a $100m fine for allegedly selling flights to customers which did not exist. In this year’s world airline awards by Skytrax, Qantas dropped seven places, from 17th to 24th, while Qatar Airways was named the world’s best airline ahead of Singapore in second place. – Guardian

Boeing should face criminal charges after violating a settlement over two fatal crashes involving its 737 Max aircraft, US prosecutors have said. The aerospace giant has been accused of breaching a settlement related to the crashes, which took place in 2018 and 2019. The two crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia killed 346 people, resulting in the longest grounding of a commercial jet in US history for the 737 Max. US prosecutors have said that Boeing violated the terms of its settlement and have recommended that the Department of Justice bring criminal charges, according to Reuters. – Telegraph

Britain’s ambitions to become a global leader in artificial intelligence are being put at risk by substandard mobile data networks, the boss of Vodafone has cautioned. In a strongly worded warning, Margherita Della Valle told The Times that this means the UK will be less quick to adopt and take advantage of the technology than its rivals. – The Times

A Labour government would be opposed to renationalising Thames Water, the troubled utility firm with a highly uncertain future. Jonathan Reynolds, the shadow business and trade secretary, said “people should not expect the state to bail out bad investments”. His comments come days before the general election next Thursday. – The Times

US close

Wall Street experienced a mixed close on Monday as traders navigated the final week of the second quarter.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average saw gains, increasing by 0.67% to end the day at 39,411.21 points.

In contrast, the S&P 500 dropped by 0.31% to 5,447.87, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite took a more significant hit, falling 1.09% to finish at 17,496.82.

In economic news, the Dallas Federal Reserve reported a slight improvement in its manufacturing sector index for June, which rose to -15.1 from -19.4 in May, suggesting a less negative outlook among regional manufacturers.

The Fed's national activity index meanwhile showed modest gains, moving from -0.17 in March to 0.01 in April, indicating a stabilisation in national economic activity.