FTSE makes slow progress

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The FTSE 100 index has made gains this morning for the first time in three days, on the back of recent news for AstraZeneca and Cairn Energy.

The blue chip stocks index has risen 21 point or 0.36% to 6,042.9 in early thanks mainly to AstraZeneca, the UK's second-largest pharmaceutical firm, which has so far earned 29p or 1% to 919p. This is on the back of news suggesting a competitor cholesterol drug from Pfizer is no longer in development once the patent expires. Cairn Energy is still climbing for the fourth day in a row, up 43p or 2.09% to £21.00 on the back of last week’s pipeline news for India. And Cadbury Schweppes is also up 11p or 2.13% to 528.5p and Vodafone Group added 1.5p or 1.13% to 134p. Shares of BAE System...

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