The benchmark FTSE 100 index has so far lost 10 points to 4,492 after UK stocks dropped, paced by drugmakers AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline.
AstraZeneca fell 33p to 2,526p after a letter from US consumer watchdog Public Citizen said the drugmaker's Crestor cholesterol treatment is dangerous and should be removed from the market. GlaxoSmithKline also lost 12p to 1,158p after Citigroup cut its recommendation for the drugmaker’s shares to “hold” from “buy”. In Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index gained 36.25 points to 11,780.40 earlier today, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 21.84 points to 12,185.52. On Wall Street, trading ended down Thursday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average index lost 35.76 points to 10,443.81 by the close....
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