London's FTSE 100 eased higher ahead of a big day on the US tech front with Nvidia and CrowdStrike to report later.
London’s blue-chip index was up five points at 8,349 in early trades.
GSK was a riser as the Delaware Supreme Court said it would review a previous adverse ruling in its Zantac litigation battle. The UK pharma company noted that such interlocutory reviews are granted in ‘exceptional circumstances’.
Sports Direct owner Frasers has purchased a 14.65% strategic investment in Accent, a leading retail and distribution business in the performance and lifestyle market in Australia and New Zealand.
Prudential fell after a mixed set of interims that were affected by the economic woes in Hong Kong and China. Even so, the life insurer maintained its forecast for new business growth of 15-20% over the next three years.
Finally, the water sector has said that a proposed cap on bill hikes will create a risk of failures across the industry. An average £19 a year ceiling “would likely result in significant investability issues for the sector as a whole,” said the report from trade body WaterUK.