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(Sharecast News) - London's FTSE 100 was up 0.1% at 10,735.58 in afternoon trade on Friday.
AstraZeneca surged as it posted a 7% jump in total revenue for the first nine months, with double-digit growth in oncology, R&I and rare disease offsetting headwinds from loss of exclusivity for Farxiga and Brilinta. It also announced a $1.5bn savings plan.
BT Group rallied following a report that Virgin Media O2 is closing in on a deal to use its rival's broadband network, as it halts planned upgrades and expansion of its own infrastructure to ease concerns over its £22bn debt pile.
The Financial Times cited people familiar with the matter as saying that under the terms of the deal being discussed, VMO2 would rely on BT's Openreach network to host new customers in areas that are not covered by its existing network.
Relx and Experian - which are usually seen as vulnerable to AI disruption in the software and data space - were among the gainers following the tech selloff on Wall Street.
On the downside, NatWest slumped after it reported a modest increase in third-quarter profits, lagging the stronger earnings growth reported by its domestic rivals, as it revealed further workforce reductions under its efficiency drive.
NatWest reported operating pre-tax profit of £2.23bn for the three months to September, up just 1.9% from £2.18bn a year earlier. This represented the weakest year-on-year profit growth among the major UK banks to have reported so far this earnings season.
Lloyds Banking Group and Barclays also lost ground.
FTSE 100 - Risers
AstraZeneca (AZN) 13,924.00p 6.91%
BT Group (BT.A) 227.30p 6.81%
Relx plc (REL) 3,008.00p 3.43%
GSK (GSK) 1,864.50p 3.12%
WPP (WPP) 415.20p 3.03%
Experian (EXPN) 3,004.00p 3.00%
Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (DI) (CCEP) 8,470.00p 2.79%
Diageo (DGE) 1,746.00p 2.70%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 5,426.00p 2.64%
Autotrader Group (AUTO) 537.00p 2.43%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
NATWEST GROUP (NWG) 584.60p -7.51%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 3,087.00p -5.40%
Airtel Africa (AAF) 262.20p -4.91%
Fresnillo (FRES) 2,234.00p -4.79%
Computacenter (CCC) 5,010.00p -4.19%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 1,229.60p -3.72%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 94.54p -3.58%
Anglo American (AAL) 3,723.00p -3.46%
Barclays (BARC) 416.40p -3.25%
Lion Finance Group (BGEO) 12,240.00p -3.15%
