Source: Sharecast
STOCKS TO WATCH
Drugmaker AstraZeneca has finalised its exclusive agreement with Dizal Pharmaceutical for worldwide rights to develop and commercialise Zegfrovy, an oral EGFR inhibitor already approved in the US and China. It also reported high‑level results from its SANOVO Phase III trial, showing that Tagrisso plus Orpathys delivered a statistically significant and "highly clinically meaningful" improvement in progression‑free survival.
Private equity firm Veritas Capital announced on Tuesday that it has agreed to buy Bodycote in a £1.65bn deal. Under the terms of the acquisition, Veritas - through its special purpose vehicle Vulcan Alpha Bidco - will pay 940p per share for the firm. This comprises 932.8p in cash and the FY26 interim dividend of 7.2p per share. The price represents a 44% premium to Bodycote's closing share price on 7 July, which was the last business day before Veritas submitted its initial proposal.
NEWSPAPER ROUND-UP
A house near a top state secondary school costs an extra £40,000 on average, according to research that reveals education premiums that rank alongside some private school fees. The average property in a postcode district that includes a top 50 state secondary commands a price tag of £415,791, compared with £375,217 across the wider local authority areas in which those schools are located, a UK-wide analysis by the estate agent Yopa found. – Guardian
Andy Burnham will drive home his pledge to bring more essential services back into public control, telling MPs in the Commons on Tuesday that it will be the only way to improve growth across the country. Burnham will address the house for the first time in 16 years from the frontbench, and six weeks since he became prime minister, after spending the summer recess announcing a slew of policies that will now be put before MPs. – Guardian
Germany's economy has shown surprising signs of strength lately. Consumer, investor and business confidence has rebounded, factories are taking more orders and growth is the fastest since 2022. This wasn't on most economists' bingo cards for 2026. Beleaguered by high energy costs, cut-throat Chinese competition and swathes of red tape, Germany is perennially called "the sick man of Europe". – Telegraph
ChatGPT risks being forced to pay hefty fines under strict new rules enforced by Brussels. The AI chatbot has four months to meet EU content moderation rules after it was placed under its toughest regulatory regime for online services. The EU has designated ChatGPT a so-called "Very Large Online Search Engine" under the Digital Services Act, meaning that it has until the end of January to comply with additional reporting obligations. It is the first chatbot to be classified as a search engine by the EU. – Telegraph
The crisis in Capita's civil service pension contract has intensified after the waiting list for retirement quotes and bereavement payouts more than doubled to 30,061 at the start of August. The London-listed outsourcer has seen its backlog of outstanding pension estimates almost double from 9,468 to 17,014 over the three weeks to 7 August, while the waiting list for survivor benefits almost tripled from 4,750 to 13,047, as the group battles to get to grips with the scheme. – The Times
US CLOSE
Wall Street stocks fell on Monday as higher oil prices and bond yields dampened sentiment, with investors taking profits on the last trading day of August.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.70% lower at 53,185.90, while the S&P 500 shed 0.33% to 7,686.14 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.12% softer at 26,370.89.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com