23rd Sep 2016 07:33
LONDON (Alliance News) - Stock prices in London opened lower on Friday, with drugmaker Indivior shares tumbling after it said 35 US states have filed a civil complaint against the company in relation to its ongoing legal privilege dispute with the US Federal Trade Commission.
Indivior is facing an investigation by the FTC over whether it, when owned by former parent Reckitt Benckiser Group, tried to prevent generic competition for its Suboxone Film opioid addiction treatment.
The company said it "intends to continue to vigorously defend its position". The stock was the biggest FTSE 250 faller, down 11%.
In other big news among London mid-caps, sports clothing and equipment retailer Sports Direct International said Mike Ashley, its founder, has been appointed as its new chief executive.
Ashley will become CEO with immediate effect, with incumbent CEO Dave Forsey resigning. To support Ashley, Sports Direct said it promoted Karen Byers to be global head of operations and Sean Nevitt to global head of commercial, both with immediate effect.
The appointment comes after Sports Direct has been the subject of widespread criticism over its working practices and corporate governance. The stock traded up 1.9%.
The FTSE 100 index was down 0.3%, or 20.60 points, at 6,890.80. Miners, which had helped lift the blue-chip index on Thursday, were amongst the heaviest fallers on Friday.
The FTSE 250 was down 0.3% at 17,935.74 and the AIM All-Share was up 0.1% at 814.27.
In mainland Europe, the French CAC 40 was down 0.4% and the German DAX 30 was down 0.1% .
The French economy contracted in the second quarter on weak household spending and investment, according to the detailed report published by the statistical office Insee.
Gross domestic product declined 0.1% from the first quarter, when it had advanced 0.7%, Insee reported Friday. The preliminary estimate had said growth was flat in the second quarter.
In the Asian equities market on Friday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo and the Shanghai Composite both ended down 0.3%, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong continues up 0.1%.
Tullow Oil, up 1.5%, said the hull and machinery insurance cover for the floating production, storage and offloading vessel that serves the Jubilee field offshore Ghana "has been confirmed" following the failure of the turret bearing earlier this year.
The issue with the turret bearing caused production to be suspended and impacted the company's full-year production guidance, but Tullow had said from the start that it expected to recover its losses from its insurance cover.
The hull and machinery policy covers relevant operating and capital costs associated with both current operating procedures at the FPSO and the long-term solution, Tullow said.
In the economics calendar, Markit manufacturing, services and composite purchasing managers' index readings for the eurozone are at 0900 BST. Markit manufacturing PMI for the US is at 1445 BST, while the Baker Hughes oil rig count is at 1800 BST.
By Neil Thakrar; [email protected]; @NeilThakrar1
Copyright 2016 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
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