Astrazeneca Share News (AZN)

UK shares were trading lower on Monday afternoon, ahead of a raft of US economic data, as weakness in mining, oil and insurance stocks outweighed gains made in the real estate, travel and electronics sectors.As of 15:30 BST, the FTSE 100 was trading 0.23% lower at 6,988.Lloyds registered losses as UK Financial Investments, the state investment vehicle, lowered its stake to 18.99% from the 19.93% it held on 12 May. The move follows continued market speculation surrounding the timing public share-selling, with the aim of returning the lender wholly to private ownership, possibly as early as September.Morrison dipped ahead of this week's annual meeting, as investors are expected to object to former chief executive Dalton Phillips's substantial payoff. The company is also at risk of being removed from the FTSE 100 altogether, to be replaced by satellite communications group Inmarsat.Prudential was also weaker as it appointed Barry Stowe as chairman and chief executive of its North American business.Miners Fresnillo, Anglo American and Glencore were in the red following weak manufacturing data from China, the world's biggest metals consumer. Oil giants Weir Group and Shell also declined, as oil prices retreated from last week's highs.Shell was also hit with allegations that it tried to use its connections with the Science Museum to influence the presentation of its Climate Change programme. A leaked internal email expressed concerns that a particular part of the project sponsored by the company "creates an opportunity for NGOs [non-governmental organisations] to talk about some of the issues that concern them around Shell's operations".Astrazeneca was boosted by positive takeaways from the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, during which the company presented preliminary data for one of its lung cancer drugs.WPP was trading higher, despite reports that it could face opposition from shareholders at its annual meeting on 9 June over chief executive Martin Sorrell's £43m pay award for 2014. Glass Lewis and Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), which advise investors that own about a quarter of the equities on the UK stock market, have both raised concerns about the 40% increase, according to The Financial Times.RisersAshtead Group (AHT) 1,155.00p +3.12%Dixons Carphone (DC.) 485.40p +2.10%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 564.00p +1.81%British Land Company (BLND) 877.00p +1.74%St James's Place (STJ) 926.00p +1.59%Intertek Group (ITRK) 2,540.00p +1.56%InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 2,781.00p +1.46%Land Securities Group (LAND) 1,332.00p +1.45%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 88.95p +1.34%Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 185.80p +1.25%FallersWeir Group (WEIR) 1,978.00p -2.27%Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,033.00p -1.24%Glencore (GLEN) 284.65p -1.15%Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 1,956.00p -0.89%Anglo American (AAL) 1,017.00p -0.88%Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 3,341.00p -0.86%Kingfisher (KGF) 366.90p -0.84%Barclays (BARC) 268.10p -0.70%Aggreko (AGK) 1,597.00p -0.68%Mondi (MNDI) 1,466.00p -0.68%