The FTSE 100 is flat at 7,326.66 in early trading despite strength in US and Asian markets overnight.
In an interview with the Financial Times star fund manager Neil Woodford warns of a stock market bubble on a par with the dotcom boom of the early 2000s and in a speech on Thursday evening Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn responded to a Morgan Stanley research report highlighting the stock market risks of a Labour government by saying he is a ‘threat’ to big banks.
Support services business Babcock (BAB) is the biggest faller on the FTSE 100 as Morgan Stanley downgrades its recommendation from 'overweight' to 'equal weight' and its price target from 975p to 800p. The shares are down 3.1% to 675.5p.
Pharmaceutical business Indivior (INDV) gains 7.5% to 398.6p as it secures approval from US drug regulators to market Sublocate, its injectable treatment for opioid use disorder.
Banking business Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) dips 0.9% to 274.1p as it reveals plans to close a quarter of its UK branches and cut 680 jobs. The closures will impact 259 branches, of which 62 are RBS and 197 NatWest. This will leave the company with 744 branches across the UK. The move is being sold as a reaction to people ‘choosing to do their everyday banking online or on mobile’.
Fantasy miniatures business Games Workshop (GAW) stands tall with a 7.7% gain to £21.08 as it reports a sharp rise in operating profit for the half year to 26 November, up from £13.8m to £38m. We looked at the company’s resilient qualities in this article.
Mongolian oil play Petro Matad (MATD:AIM) gains 23.1% to 8p as it terminates a financing agreement with Bergen Global Opportunity Fund.
Small cap miner Beowulf Mining (BEM:AIM) dives 54.1% to 4.88p following the news last night that local authorities in Sweden have not recommended the award of an exploitation concession for its Kallak North project.
