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(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London are seen opening lower on Friday following another sell-off on Wall Street fuelled by recession fears, while focus will be on a slew of manufacturing PMI readings later in the day.
In early company news, gene and cell therapy developer Oxford Biomedica signed a new three-year agreement to manufacture AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine beyond 2022. Housebuilder MJ Gleeson met medium-term targets. Veterinary services provider CVS Group said trading was in line with expectations.
IG futures indicate the FTSE 100 index is to open 23.68 points lower at 7,145.60. The blue chip index closed down 143.04 points, or 2.0%, at 7,169.28 on Thursday.
Oxford Biomedica said that it has signed a new three-year agreement with AstraZeneca, which would facilitate potential future manufacturing opportunities for the FTSE 100-listed drugmaker's Covid-19 vaccine.
Oxford Biomedica said the manufacture of Covid-19 vaccines at its Oxbox facility is expected to complete in the last quarter of 2022. In accordance with the terms of the original agreement and inclusive of revenue for batches already manufactured in the first half, Oxford Biomedica expects to recognise revenue of GBP30 million from AstraZeneca in the current financial year.
Under the new agreement, manufacturing of vaccines at Oxford Biomedica's manufacturing facility will be available to AstraZeneca on an as-needed basis beyond 2022.
Roch Doliveux, chair & Interim CEO of Oxford Biomedica, commented: "I am delighted that our close partnership with AstraZeneca has been extended. I am proud of the work of all our colleagues at Oxford Biomedica that has enabled us to deliver more than 100 million doses of lifesaving COVID-19 vaccine. While contributing to the efforts to fight the pandemic, this has also demonstrated Oxford Biomedica's ability to expand the scope of our innovative process development services and deliver high-performing manufacturing solutions beyond lentiviral vectors.
"We look forward to continuing to work closely with AstraZeneca and execute on our strategy to become a global leader across all viral vectors, enabling Cell and Gene Therapy companies to deliver their life-changing therapies to patients."
CVS Group said it has acquired Old Courts Veterinary Centre for GBP3.0 million and that it has "significant headroom" for further organic investments and acquisitions.
CVS also said current trading remains in line with management expectations for the full financial year.
MJ Gleeson confirmed that it has achieved its medium-term strategic target of doubling home sales by completing the sale of 2,000 homes during the financial year ended June 30.
S4 Capital said its Media.Monks business has entered an agreement with Los Angeles, California-based social marketing services agency XX Artists, to expand its capabilities and client base in the core US market.
XX Artists helps clients such as Google, YouTube, Logitech, and Ancestry.com formulate and execute their social and influencer content strategies. XX Artists was founded in 2018 by Kyle Kuhns.
Martin Sorrell, S4 Capital chair, said: "We are delighted to welcome Kyle and his colleagues to the family. Their exciting growth, diverse talent base and prestigious clients will help fuel the development of our best-in-class social media capabilities in the United States and internationally."
In the US on Thursday, Wall Street ended lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.8%, S&P 500 down 0.9% and Nasdaq Composite down 1.3%.
Losses across world markets in recent sessions come after a rally last week fuelled by hopes that an economic slowdown or signs of recession would lead central banks to ease off their monetary tightening drive.
However, comments from top central bankers, including Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, suggest they are willing to endure the pain of a contraction as long as they can rein in prices.
"With central banks shifting towards accepting that monetary tightening is impossible without some economic damage, the market narrative has swung 180 degrees this week," said SPI Asset Management's Stephen Innes.
On Friday, the Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed down 1.7%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was down 0.5%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was closed for a holiday. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney ended down 0.4%.
China's manufacturing sector returned to expansion levels in June, with the easing of Covid restrictions leading to a sharp expansion of output, and the stabilisation of supply chains, data from Caixin and S&P Global showed.
The Caixin general manufacturing purchasing managers' index rose to 51.7 points in June from 48.1 points in May, signalling the first improvement in the sector in four months, as well as the strongest rate of increase since May 2021.
Companies noted the first expansion of output since February, as a result of the return to more normal operations, as well as the reopening of production lines as Covid restrictions were relaxed.
In Japan, the au Jibun manufacturing PMI slowed to 52.7 in June from 53.3 in May, which was the 17th consecutive month of growth.
"The weaker headline reading was partly due to a near-stagnation of new orders. While remaining in expansion territory, the latest increase in sales was only fractional and the slowest in the current nine-month sequence of growth. The slowdown in demand was commonly linked to rising prices and weaker client confidence amid sustained material shortages and delivery delays," au Jibun explained
The pound was quoted at USD1.2125 early Friday, down from USD1.2157 at the London equities close Thursday.
The euro was priced at USD1.0440, down from USD1.0456. Against the safe haven Japanese yen, the dollar was trading at JPY134.92, lower against JPY135.89.
Brent oil was quoted at USD108.65 a barrel Friday morning, down sharply from USD114.74 a barrel at the London equities close Thursday. Gold was quoted at USD1,796.30 an ounce, down from USD1,807.91.
Friday's economic calendar has manufacturing PMIs from Germany at 0855 BST, the eurozone at 0900 BST and the UK at 0930 BST. There is also eurozone inflation at 1000 BST and US PMIs at 1445 BST and 1500 BST.
By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com
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