FTSE shrugs off the blues

Most European indices headed up this afternoon despite a poor showing by US stocks, and the FTSE 100 managed to close up 94.90 points to 3,578.70. Astrazenica had a huge lift after its chief executive Tom McKillop said the company was likely to get sales approval for a new anti-cholesterol drug in the US this year, and shares jumped 156p to £20.78 as a result. British Airways jumped 10.75p to 116p after the European Commission said it was warning national EU governments they were not allowed to negotiate new air traffic agreements with the US. Instead, a European Court ...