FTSE 100 lost all of Monday's gains as the boss of Moderna expressed doubts over how vaccines would cope with the omicron strain. London’s blue-chip index fell 80 to 7,029.
Moderna’s Stephane Bancel told the FT he is unsure if the current crop of coronavirus vaccines will be effective against omicron. He also said it would be months before new jabs could be rolled out at scale.
EasyJet has seen some softening of bookings due to the spread of the Delta variant and the new omicron strain but still expects flights to return to 2019 levels by this time next year. The airline posted another bruising annual loss of more than £1bn.
Fuel retailers are overcharging by as much as 12p a litre as they are refusing to slash prices, according to the RAC. Companies should face scrutiny from the British government if the over-inflated prices continue, said the motorists’ organisation.
Punch Pubs, which owns around 1,300 pubs across the UK, has received numerous approaches over a £1bn takeover according to reports today. US-based investor, Fortress Investment Group is believed to be leading the race.
Among the small caps, BATM told investors that its PCR test kits are effective in diagnosing COVID patients with the new omicron variant. The kits work even with the large spike in protein mutations associated with omicron, it said.
Powerhouse Energy partner Hydrogen Utopia International has signed a letter of intent with Simitli, a city in Bulgaria, where it will build a Distributed Modular Gasification plant (DMG). The DMG project will use Powerhouse technology to convert waste plastics and tyres to create a source of hydrogen
Yooma Wellness has seen “significant” revenue growth so far this year and predicted revenue in excess of US$5mln for the final quarter of 2021, equivalent to an annualised run rate of US$20.3mln. The company, which has a portfolio of cannabis-related wellness brands, reported revenues of US$2.1mln for the third quarter.