Business · 3 August 2026
London's FTSE 100 falls as drugmaker AstraZeneca drops 6.2% over merger reports
Image by Jomkwan on Freepik | D Wells (Wikimedia, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0)
The blue-chip index slipped 0.10% on Monday, with the drugmaker becoming the top decliner as investors questioned the prospective deal. Energy giants BP and Shell also weighed on the market as oil prices fell 5% after US strikes were delayed. In contrast, the mid-cap FTSE 250 index gained nearly 1%, boosted by housebuilding shares rising up to 6.9%.
Reported by Reuters · How we write briefs