NHL signs licensing deals with prediction-market startups Kalshi and Polymarket - WSJ
Investing.com -- British stocks closed higher on Friday, recovering from the previous day’s losses despite U.S. President Donald Trump announcing new trade tariffs, including a 100% levy on imported pharmaceutical products.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 index rose about 0.8%, while the British GBP/USD climbed around 0.5%, currently trading at 1.34.
European markets also gained ground, with Germany’s DAX index up 0.9% and France’s CAC 40 rising 1%.
Trump’s tariffs hit Novo Nordisk , Roche, Novartis ; UK pharma mixed
Pharmaceutical stocks initially fell across Europe following President Trump’s tariff announcement, although UK companies experienced relatively modest losses.
In early European trading, AstraZeneca PLC (ST:AZN), GSK plc (LON:GSK) had dipped before closing higher. Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC (LON:HIK), which focuses on generic medicines not affected by the tariffs, gained 1.7%.
Meanwhile, continental European firms including Novo Nordisk A/S Class B (CSE:NOVOb) and Roche Holding AG (SIX:RO), fell.
Pennon signals strong profit outlook
In other corporate news, water utility Pennon Group (LON:PNN) stated it’s on track to meet expectations for 2025/26, forecasting a "strong return to profitability" in a trading statement released Friday.
The company expects to deliver approximately 60% EBITDA growth year-over-year, slightly below Jefferies estimates and consensus expectations of 66% and 67% respectively.
Analysts suggested this difference might be due to the company shifting some revenues from the current year into the next to manage customer bill profiles.
Ceres Power reports revenue decline as focus shifts from R&D to commercial
Meanwhile, clean energy technology developer Ceres Power Holdings PLC (LON:CWR) reported a 26% drop in revenue to £21.1 million for the first half of 2025 as it transitions from R&D to commercial production.
Despite lower revenues, which the company attributed to significant one-off license revenue from the Delta agreement in 2024, Ceres maintained a strong balance sheet with £104.1 million in cash and short-term investments, showing a positive cash inflow of £1.6 million during the period.