(Alliance News) - The following is a summary of top news stories Monday.
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COMPANIES
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AstraZeneca said its AZD1222 vaccine met its primary endpoint of preventing Covid-19, highlighting a vaccine efficacy of up to 90%. The FTSE 100 Anglo-Swedish drug manufacturer, which is partnering with Oxford University, stated clinical trials in the UK and Brazil showed the AZD1222 vaccine was highly effective in preventing the virus. AstraZeneca said one dosing regimen showed vaccine efficacy of 90% when AZD1222 was given as a half dose, followed by a full dose at least one month apart. Another dosing regimen showed 62% efficacy when given as two full doses at least one month apart. The combined analysis from both dosing regimens resulted in an average efficacy of 70%.
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Aviva said it is selling its entire shareholding in Italian life insurance joint venture Aviva Vita to its partner UBI Banca. The London-based savings, retirement and insurance business said the sale of its 80% shareholding in Aviva Vita will go for EUR400 million in cash. In addition, a EUR40 million loan provided to Aviva Vita by Aviva Italia Holding will be repaid in full at completion. "The proceeds will be used to further strengthen Aviva's central liquidity and will be considered as part of Aviva's broader capital management and debt reduction objectives," Aviva said.
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GlaxoSmithKline said patient dosing has started in a phase three trial investigating the safety and efficacy of its Respiratory Syncytial Virus candidate vaccine for maternal immunisation. GSK said it is estimated that every year 33 million cases of RSV occur in children less than 5 years old. RSA is a leading cause of respiratory infections such as bronchiolitis and viral pneumonia in infants and, currently, there is no vaccine available for RSV. A phase 1/2 study showed the candidate vaccine was well-tolerated and able to "rapidly boost" pre-existing immunity in non-pregnant women, leading to a high level of protecting neutralising antibodies. First data in pregnant women are expected to be presented in 2021.
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MARKETS
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London shares were in the green on Monday as investors reacted positively to the latest coronavirus vaccine developments. Despite giving the overall market a boost, AstraZeneca shares themselves were down 1.5%. Oil prices were trading near three-month highs. US stock market futures were pointed to a higher open.
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FTSE 100: up 0.4% at 6,376.11
FTSE 250: up 0.5% at 19,605.45
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.3% at 1,033.93
GBP: up at USD1.3365 (USD1.3284)
EUR: firm at USD1.1878 (USD1.1861)
GOLD: down at USD1,868.71 per ounce (USD1,874.10)
OIL (Brent): up at USD45.75 a barrel (USD44.00)
(changes since previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Business sector activity in the UK shrank as the services industry was hurt by tighter coronavirus restrictions, the latest figures from IHS Markit showed. The flash UK services business activity index reading was 45.8 in November, down from 51.4 in October. November's score fell below the 50.0 mark which separates expansion from contraction and was the lowest level for six months. The flash UK manufacturing purchasing managers' index print was 55.2 in November, up from 53.7 in October. The latest figure beat market forecasts, cited by FXStreet, for 50.5 and was a two-month high. The flash UK composite PMI score was 47.4 in November and pointed to the sharpest downturn in overall business activity since May. The composite reading slipped into contraction territory after registering 52.1 in October.
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Eurozone business activity fell sharply in November, IHS Markit said, as countries introduced more aggressive measures to counter rising coronavirus infections. The flash IHS Markit eurozone composite purchasing managers' index slumped to 45.1 in November from 50.0 in October, hitting its lowest since May. The composite index comprises the flash eurozone services PMI activity index, which came in at 41.3 in November versus 46.9 in October, and the flash eurozone manufacturing PMI output index, which was at 55.5 in November from 58.4 in October. The deteriorating performance was broad-based, though with the service sector hardest hit from virus containment measures. Service sector output fell for a third month running, with the rate of decline accelerating sharply to the fastest since May. Meanwhile, manufacturing output growth merely slowed in November to the lowest since the start of the sector's recovery back in July, attributable to a marked slowing in order book growth.
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A relaxation of coronavirus restrictions "for a small number of days" over Christmas is planned to allow a limited level of mixing between households across the UK, the Westminster government has said. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is to set out the basis of plans for the festive period on Monday, as well as detailing a new tougher three-tier system for England when its national lockdown ends on December 2. But Johnson will be unable to say how many households will be allowed to mix over Christmas and for how many days restrictions will be relaxed for until a later date, the PA news agency understands. Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove met with leaders of the devolved administrations over the weekend when they "endorsed a shared objective of facilitating some limited additional household bubbling for a small number of days". But the public will be "advised to remain cautious" and told that "wherever possible people should avoid travelling and minimise social contact", a statement from his department said.
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The US hopes to begin coronavirus vaccinations in early December, a top government health official said Sunday, the latest positive news to emerge even as cases surge across the worst-hit nation and elsewhere around the globe. The beginning of vaccinations could be a crucial shift in the battle against a virus that has claimed more than 1.4 million lives worldwide, including 255,000 just in the US, since emerging from China late last year. Encouraging results from vaccine trials have bolstered hopes for an end to the pandemic, as nations reimpose restrictions and lockdowns that slowed the spread earlier this year but turned lives and economies upside down across the globe. Two leading vaccine candidates – one by Pfizer and German partner BioNTech and another by US firm Moderna – have been shown to be 95% effective in trials, and Pfizer has already applied for emergency use approval from US health authorities.
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US President-Elect Joe Biden will name his first cabinet picks on Tuesday, his chief of staff said, even as Donald Trump clung to unsubstantiated claims of fraud despite growing dissent from within his own party. Biden has pushed ahead with preparations to assume the presidency on January 20, regardless of Trump's bid to undo the results of the November vote. "You are going to see the first of the president-elect's cabinet picks on Tuesday," Biden's chief of staff, Ron Klain, told ABC's "This Week" on Sunday. Several US news organizations, including Bloomberg and The New York Times, reported that the president-elect will nominate seasoned diplomat and long-time aide Antony Blinken as secretary of state. Biden also said last week he had already decided his pick for the key position of Treasury Secretary.
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