FTSE 100 crashed more than 2% in early trades as resource stocks tanked on fears about Covid lockdowns in Shanghai, China’s economic hub. Just four stocks were in the green with the index slumping 161 points to 7,360.
Twitter is in negotiations with Elon Musk over his US$43bn offer for the social media giant in an apparent U-turn. Musk made the bid over a week ago and has allegedly wooed shareholders.
Failed gas and electricity supplier Bulb Energy has been using government bailout money to pay millions in bonuses to retain staff. The government gave £1.7bn to the energy company in November.
The average asking price for a home has surged to record levels, reaching over £360,000. More than half of properties are selling at or over their final advertised asking price, the highest percentage Rightmove said it had ever seen.
Pantheon Resources has upgraded estimates of its potentially giant oil discovery in Alaska, with the ‘oil-in-place’ estimates swelling by some 61% up to 17.8bn barrels. The 17.8bn barrels are seen in the Lower Basin Floor Fan (LBFF), which is one of multiple potential plays unearthed by the explorer on Alaska’s North Slope.
Mila Resources has returned a highly encouraging set of results from the latest round of drilling at its Kathleen Valley gold project in Western Australia. Among the highlights from the first five of the 11 diamond core holes was 6.6 metres (m) grading 14.86 grams per tonne gold (g/t).
Allergy Therapeutics said it will publish new data on its grass pollen vaccine at Edinburgh this week. The poster will show clinically relevant and statistically significant reductions in daily hay fever symptoms after six injections.