Gilts
Gilts eased ahead of £20 billion of redemptions and coupon payments due today. There was little reaction to the appointment of Goldman Sachs economist Ben Broadbent to the Bank of England’s MPC. The June gilt future was seven ticks lower at 116.46, broadly in line with bund futures. The yield on ten-year gilts marked time at 3.71 per cent.
Bet of the day
Spread-betters were buying Wm Morrison’s share price of 279¾p before 2010 results on Thursday. Although likely to be solid not stunning, with sales of about £16.6 billion expected to deliver profits of £875 million, a widely anticipated share buyback programme may lift the gloom surrounding the industry. Cantor Index’s March spread is 280p-281½p.
Deal of the day
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ValiRx shareholders gave the green light yesterday to plans to raise £3.3 million by selling new shares at 0.6p. The biotechnology company will use the funds to develop further its cancer treatments. Its Chlamydia testing kits are already on chemists’ shelves. Changing hands for ¼p in January, the shares rose 9.1 per cent to 0.66p.