Wood Group wins Esso contract, GSK's Jemperli gets expanded EC approval
By Josh White
Date: Monday 20 Jan 2025
(Sharecast News) - London open
The FTSE 100 is expected to open 17 points lower on Monday, having closed down 1.35% on Friday at 8,505.22.
Stocks to watch
Wood Group on Monday said it had won a contract to provide long-term maintenance for Esso's onshore and offshore assets in Australia's Gippsland Basin. The company will provide maintenance services and shutdown support to optimise operational performance of offshore assets in the Bass Strait along with the Longford and Long Island Point facilities in the state of Victoria where Esso has a joint venture with Woodside Energy. No financial details were disclosed.
European regulators have expanded the usage of GSK's Jemperli drug for endometrial cancer, the pharmaceutical firm announced on Monday. The European Commission said that, when used alongside chemotherapy, Jemperli (otherwise known as dostarlimab) can now be used to treat people with mismatch repair proficient (MMRp)/microsatellite stable (MSS) tumours, which represent approximately 75% of patients diagnosed with endometrial cancer.
Newspaper round-up
TikTok said on Sunday that it was restoring services in the US after Donald Trump pledged earlier in the day to give the video app a reprieve on its US ban. Trump wrote on Truth Social that after taking office on Monday he would sign an executive order allowing the Chinese-owned video app additional time to find a buyer before facing a total shutdown, and proposing that the US or an American firm take a 50% ownership stake. - Guardian
The average London worker could quit their job in August and still be paid what an average worker in Burnley would make in a year, according to a report highlighting Britain's stark regional pay divide. Calling on the government to close regional pay divisions and increase economic growth, the Centre for Cities said the average annual wage for an employee in London was almost £20,000 higher than in the lowest-paid places in the UK. - Guardian
Ministers must enforce a ban on foreign state ownership of newspapers to force the sale of The Telegraph by an Abu Dhabi fund, the former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith has said. He accused the Government of "foot-dragging" over the process out of concern for relations with the United Arab Emirates, which has been overseeing what has been dubbed "the auction from hell". - Telegraph
Airbus is providing financial assistance to some of its industrial suppliers in an attempt to raise production in 2025 despite continuing disruption to the supply chain since the pandemic. Last year the company missed its delivery targets primarily because of issues at one of its main engine providers, CFM, a joint venture between America's GE and Safran of France. - The Times
The cost of improving the Office for National Statistics' labour market survey has almost doubled over the past year amid persistent delays to its publication, underscoring concerns over the validity of UK economic data. A response to a freedom of information request from The Times revealed that the agency has spent £40.4 million on creating the transformed labour force survey, up from an earlier estimate of £24.1 million. - The Times
US close
Wall Street stocks were in the green at the close of trading on Friday as traders prepped for a three-day break.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.78% at 43,487.83, while the S&P 500 advanced 1.00% to 5,996.66 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 1.51% firmer at 19,630.20.
The Dow closed 334.70 points higher on Friday, more than reversing losses recorded in the previous session as Q4 earnings season began to pick up steam.
Stocks were in the green on Friday as softer-than-expected consumer and producer price indexes continued to boost sentiment and show that inflationary pressures appeared to be easing somewhat, while solid earnings from a number of that nation's biggest banks also gave major indices a boost towards the end of the week.
Market participants also looked ahead to next week, with trading halted on Monday in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Donald Trump will also take the oath of office and be inaugurated as president for the second time on Monday.
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