FTSE 100 remained relatively unchanged in early trading, losing 8 points to 7,480. Admiral and Aviva bucked the trend of insurers issuing profit warnings in recent weeks and led the index after posting solid first-half results.
Elon Musk sold more Tesla shares as his battle with Twitter rumbles on. The world’s richest man says he needs the money in case he is forced to buy the social media company.
Royal Mail is facing a four-day walkout from staff after union members voted overwhelmingly for action over a pay dispute. Strikes will take place in the last week of August and the second week of September.
Prudential reported an increase in profits for the first half on continued Covid-19 disruption in many of its markets. It also cautioned, however, that conditions may remain challenging for the rest of the year.
Digitalbox predicted a year of two halves after an ‘exceptional’ first-half performance. The company, which owns publications like The Tab, cautioned advertising revenues would be ‘impacted’ by the current economic environment in the second half.
Jubilee Metals posted an increase in operating earnings for the first half. The metals processing company completed a key investment programme in South Africa and Zambia which diversified production across platinum group metals.
Nuformix took a step closer to generating a ‘robust data package’ for its lead asset, NXP002. A new form of tranilast, an asthma treatment, the drug is being developed to combat a form of scarring on the lung.