The FTSE 100 has topped 5,600 for the first time since August 2001. The index is currently up 3.9 points, or 0.07%, to 5,600.9, led higher by drugmaker AstraZeneca after it said it was buying a cancer specialist firm to boost its drug pipeline.
Drugmaker AstraZeneca has added 17p, or 0.61%, to 2,795p, as the firm said it had agreed to buy privately owned UK biotechnology company KuDOS Pharmaceuticals for $210m in cash in its latest move to bolster its pipeline of new drugs. Elsewhere, defence group BAE Systems has slipped 1p, or 0.26%, to 324p, despite recent news of a deal between Britain and Saudi Arabia to supply the world's top oil producer with new fighter jets. Miners are supporting the market, with Xstrata gaining 7p, or 0.52%, to 1,345p, after gold prices firmed above $500 an ounce and Shanghai copper futures traded ...
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