Crypto News: The London Rush: Astra’s triple shot

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Morning, I'm Louise Moon from Bloomberg UK's breaking news team, bringing you up to speed on today's top business stories.

AstraZeneca's shares have been a bit under the weather recently, and (judging by early trading) don't appear to be on the mend despite this morning's triple shot of positive news.

Firstly, the pharma giant plans to invest $3.5 billion in R&D and manufacturing in the US by the end of 2026. That's in Massachusetts, Maryland, Texas and beyond.

The investment is to help Astra hit its targeted $80 billion in revenue by 2030 — and key to that is an expansion in America, already its largest market. Another key factor is its cancer drugs.

That leads us onto the second bit of news: strong sales of those cancer drugs lifted Astra's third-quarter earnings, prompting it to raise annual profit and sales goals.

And last but not least, a phase three trial of a drug used to treat a condition that causes tumours to grow along nerves went well.

This trio will be welcomed by CEO Pascal Soriot after a glut of bad news — about China probing alleged illegal imports of cancer drugs into the mainland via Hong Kong — battered the drugmaker's stock. Perhaps a stronger treatment is needed.

What's your take? Ping me on X, LinkedIn or drop me an email at lmoon13@bloomberg.net. Oh, and do subscribe to Bloomberg.com for unlimited access to trusted business journalism on the UK, and beyond.

Africa and Turkey helped Vodafone boost sales in the first half, despite its biggest market — Germany — suffering after a law change. Numbers matched expectations, as its CEO seeks a turnaround, predominantly by selling off unprofitable units. Shares fell about 5%.

Metro Bank has been fined almost £17 million for financial crime failings: not adequately monitoring £51 billion worth of transactions for money laundering risks. Junior staff raised the issue, but it wasn't fixed until four and a half years after being introduced in 2016.

Co-Op is buying Kerry Dairy Ireland (you all know the gold butter) for €500 million, from its parent. While Kerry Group will still hold 30%, it is slimming down its portfolio to focus more on the nutrition side of things.

Trump poised to appoint two China hawks in key posts, hinting at a tougher stance.
China plans to cut homebuying taxes to as low as 1%, adding stimulus to aid market.
Italian court deals another blow to Meloni's plans to resettle migrants in Albania.

Here's your daily snap analysis from Bloomberg UK's Markets Today blog:

The UK jobs report used to be a marquee event for markets, but its well publicised methodological issues have really diminished its importance.

Today's data contained a number of surprises, showing hotter-than-expected wage growth and higher-than-forecast unemployment. But neither sparked a major reaction.

While that's partly because the two offset each other, it is also evidence that traders are now taking the data with a pinch of salt.

Indeed, the ONS do too. High up in today's release, it notes the figures "have been affected by increased volatility, resulting from smaller achieved sample sizes, meaning that estimates of change should be treated with additional caution."

The longer those caveats last, the less weight will be placed on what was once a top-tier release.

— David Goodman

Check Bloomberg UK's Markets Today blog for updates all day.

Energy supplier SSE is set to be boosted by its renewables and power distribution units when it reports first-half results tomorrow, says Bloomberg Intelligence. Renewables output is growing on the back of good weather conditions, more capacity and price hedges, plus an alignment with the UK's energy transition.

Which British car brand is stopping selling any new produce in the UK until 2026, when it'll come back with just high-end electric vehicles?

Clue: it is a go-to for prime ministers and the royal family.

Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg

[Yesterday's answer: Lululemon is the Canadian yogawear brand that is booming in China, as other Western premium labels struggle.]

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