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Construction output, meanwhile, picked up in November according to a closely-watched survey, as supply bottlenecks started to ease.

On the downside, pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca slumped after saying it was buying US drug developer Alexion in a cash and shares deal worth $39bn. Both companies have approved the deal, which still needs regulatory and shareholder approval. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2021.

Housebuilders were among the worst performers, having rallied on Tuesday on the back of upbeat data from mortgage lender Nationwide, dented by worries about a no-deal Brexit.

Barratt Developments was down 1.07%, Taylor Wimpey lost 2.35%, Berkeley Group was off 2.84%, and Persimmon was 2.68% lower.

Vaccine news lifted the mood as AstraZeneca said its Covid-19 vaccine was highly effective in preventing the virus and that it would move quickly to get approval for use. An interim analysis of clinical trials of AZD122 in the UK and Brazil showed the vaccine had an average efficacy of 70% with protection occurring 14 days or more after two doses. One of the dosing regimens was about 90% effective, putting it on a par with other vaccines.

There were no serious safety incidents related to the vaccine and AZD122 was well tolerated, AstraZeneca said.

The UK has secured early access to 100m doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, along with 255m doses from other developers.

Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell said: "At a glance, the headline from the University of Oxford trial seems a tad disappointing. The study showed an average 70.4% efficacy compared to the 90% and 95% of the Pfizer and Moderna preparations respectively.

"However, dig into the numbers and things look brighter - a half dose produced 90% efficacy when followed by a full dose at least once month later.

"Whichever way you slice it, the science is continuing to move in the right direction, with three major vaccines almost ready to go. Pfizer seems first in line, with The Telegraph reporting that the company’s joint venture with BioNTech could be given UK regulatory approval this week - that’d be before the US, where the FDA won’t meet until December 10th to discuss authorisation.

"While nowhere near as explosive as the growth that greeted that first Pfizer/BioNTech headline, Europe nevertheless looked healthy on Monday."

Watch the volumes, i.e. small change...

Imperial Brands shares jumped 7.34% after it reported a rise in annual sales, driven by a demand for tobacco which offset a drop in its e-cigarette business, and forecast profit growth in 2021.

The future market for Covid-19 vaccines could be worth more than $10bn (£7.6bn) in annual revenues for pharmaceutical companies, according to industry experts, even though some drugmakers have pledged to provide their vaccines on a not-for-profit basis during this pandemic. The calculations by analysts at Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse assume people will need to be vaccinated every year, similar to the traditional flu jab, with an average price of $20 for a Covid-19 vaccine dose. Prices range from $3 a dose to $37. - Guardian

“The FTSE 100 is deep in the red thanks largely to the rally in the pound,” said CMC Markets analyst David Madden.

“Optimism is circulating with respect to the possibility of the UK and the EU achieving a trade deal, hence the upward move in sterling.

“Stocks like Diageo, AstraZeneca, Unilever, GlaxoSmithKline and British American Tobacco are weighing on the British index because of the rally in the pound.”

Madden explained that the companies all earn a relatively high portion of their total revenue overseas, so sterling’s positive run pushed them into the red.

"The positive move in the pound has put pressure on the FTSE 100," said CMC Markets analyst David Madden.
"The international nature of some of the big components in the index means that a rally in sterling tends to hurt stocks like Diageo, AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, and Burberry as they derive a relatively large amount of their revenue from overseas.

Britain’s housing market remains depressed despite a pick-up in enquiries from people looking to buy, but estate agents are expecting a sharp increase in demand for homes with gardens over the next two years because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite estate agents being allowed to reopen in England on 13 May following an eight-week shutdown, sales and house prices continued to fall across the UK in May, according to a monthly survey of surveyors and estate agents from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics). - Guardian

Testing the waters...

AstraZeneca was weaker after a report over the weekend the company has approached US-based Gilead Sciences about a potential merger to create a $240bn drug maker. Britain's biggest company by market value contacted Gilead informally in May to size up the US company's interest in a deal, Bloomberg reported. AstraZeneca did not set out any terms and the companies are not in formal talks, it said.

House sales in the UK will collapse this year as the coronavirus pandemic puts the property market into deep freeze. But prices will fall by only 3% and will rebound next year, according to global consultancy Knight Frank. In the first reassessment of the property market by one of the major forecasters, Knight Frank said the number of house sales in the UK would plummet from 1,175,000 last year to just 734,000 this year. - Guardian

House sales in the UK will collapse this year as the coronavirus pandemic puts the property market into deep freeze. But prices will fall by only 3% and will rebound next year, according to global consultancy Knight Frank. In the first reassessment of the property market by one of the major forecasters, Knight Frank said the number of house sales in the UK would plummet from 1,175,000 last year to just 734,000 this year. - Guardian

Rallied as it said Covid-19 had no material effect on its trading so far as the tobacco and vaping company unveiled a new €3.5bn (£3.1bn) revolving credit arrangement with its lenders.

Whoops, he has already done so in today's budget.

Rishi Sunak is preparing to unveil plans in his first Budget as chancellor next week for a new surcharge of up to 3 per cent on overseas buyers of UK property, a move likely to cause alarm across the real estate sector. FT

Burberry is one of the luxury brands most at risk from the coronavirus outbreak, UBS said as it downgraded the company to 'sell' and slashed its target price by more than a third.

UBS analyst Zuzanna Pusz said Burberry's attempted turnaround was increasingly shaky and that the company would lose sales due to the coronavirus. She reduced her rating on Burberry shares to 'sell' from 'neutral' and cut her price target by 37% to £14.15.

Pusz said Burberry's shares were pricing in gains that were "unachievable given limits to cost cutting and the need to ramp up brand investments". She said the company's momentum was weakening at crucial point in its turnaround plan under Chief Executive Marco Gobbetti.

Burberry warned on 7 February that the coronavirus was damaging sales in China and Hong Kong and that the outbreak had forced it to close more than a third of its stores in mainland China. The FTSE 100 company makes about 40% of its sales to Chinese consumers in China and travelling overseas.

Pusz cut her estimate for 2020 earnings per share to 76.39p from 90.49p. Burberry shares fell 4.5% to £16.57 at 13:16 GMT.

She said it was possible for Burberry to maintain share buybacks of about £150m a year but that it would need to increase investments in the short run.

Taylor Wimpey was down after reporting a 5% increase in group completions to 16,042 for the year ended 31 December, including joint ventures.
Its revenue increased 6.4% to £4.34bn, while operating profit slipped to £850.5m from £880.2m, which the board said reflected its volume growth, offset by rising build costs and flat house prices.