STORY-TRÅD·ekonomi

UK housing market downturn eases but sentiment remains ‘fragile’, surveyors say – business live

Brent crude dips slightly below $78 a barrel; most Asian stock markets bounce backAstraZeneca is the biggest loser on the FTSE 100 index after a new heart disease drug failed in a late-stage clinical trial.The shares crashed nearly 10% and are now down 9.2%. This is dragging the FTSE 100 down, which fell 52 points, or 0.5%, to 10,435.The CARDIO-TTRansform trial was designed to examine the role of Wainua, a gene silencer treatment, on top of today’s standard of care in reducing recurring cardiovascular events and mortality.Although the trial did not meet its primary objective, we believe the results support greater scientific understanding of treatment approaches for the hundreds of thousands of patients worldwide suffering from this progressive and often fatal condition.We recognise the service on Civil Service Pension Scheme has not been good enough, we are working closely with the Cabinet Office on all aspects of the scheme, and this remains our number one priority. The wider Group continues to perform robustly, and we are confident in the actions we are taking to build a simpler, more focused Capita.Despite the progress made to date, we recognise the service has not been good enough, particularly for members waiting on bereavement, retirement, and quotation cases, and we are sorry for the distress and inconvenience experienced by those members. We now have the processes, automation and technology in place to work through the backlog. Continue reading...