STOCKS TO WATCH

UK private equity group Bridgepoint on Monday said it was buying the real estate arm of US investment firm Kayne Anderson for $1.4bn, as it makes a move into the US property sector. Bridgepoint said the deal comprises $759m in cash and around 189m newly-issued Bridgepoint shares.

BT Group and Verizon Communications have agreed to combine their international operations in a 50:50 joint venture, it was announced on Monday. The two telecoms firms will hold equal voting rights, with Verizon paying BT an equalisation payment of $645m. The JV - which BT said was designed "specifically for a cloud-first world in the age of AI" - will have around 3,000 customers in more than 180 countries, with combined annual revenues of around $4bn.

Drugmaker AstraZeneca said on Monday that its breast cancer therapy Datroway has been recommended for approval in the EU as a first‑line monotherapy for adults with unresectable or metastatic triple‑negative breast cancer who are not eligible for PD‑1/PD‑L1 inhibitor treatment. AstraZeneca said the positive opinion from the European Medicines Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use was based on results from its Phase III TROPION‑Breast02 trial.

Plus500 announced the launch of sports event-based contracts, expanding its US prediction markets offering. It noted that these CFTC-regulated financial contracts represent the highest-engagement category in prediction markets and "significantly" expand its addressable market. The new offering provides US retail customers with access to CFTC-regulated Kalshi sports event-based contracts, delivered through the company's proprietary futures trading platform.

NEWSPAPER ROUND-UP

Shares in chipmakers have surged in the first half of this year as investors piled into companies that make the hardware underpinning the AI boom, according to analysis. Investors have driven up the value of semiconductor and memory chip manufacturers, whose profits have soared during 2026, at the expense of some large software companies, which have fallen out of favour this year. – Guardian

Revised plans for HS2 should not be put into action until the government is confident they can be delivered, according to the public spending watchdog. The project to build the high-speed railway must be put on a stable footing to avoid a repeat of past failures, the National Audit Office said in a report. – Guardian

A housebuilder constructing "flat-pack" net zero homes is scrambling to find a buyer after it was left on the brink of collapse. Agile Property and Homes, which erects prefab "eco-homes" made of materials such as straw and timber, has lodged an intention to appoint administrators after soaring building costs hammered its finances. – Telegraph

Andy Burnham must end Labour's addiction to taxes and embrace the private sector to revive Britain's flagging economy, the boss of Manchester airport has said. Ken O'Toole, who had a front-row seat for Mr Burnham's time as Manchester mayor, said that if the Makerfield MP gets to No 10 he should replicate the public-private approach that helped transform the northern city on a national scale. – Telegraph

A City grandee who previously led the boards of Barclays and Aviva is working with Revolut to help Britain's most valuable fintech company with its ambitious overseas expansion plans. John McFarlane is advising the London-based group's business in Australia, a market where Revolut has amassed one million customers since entering in 2020 and is earmarked for further growth. – The Times

Among the scores of businesses cashing in on the World Cup is a partnership between the FTSE 100 maker of Rizla and a small cult football fashion company. The rolling paper brand, owned by Imperial Brands, the Bristol-based big tobacco company, and Lover's FC released a selection of retro concept kits last month. – The Times

US CLOSE

Major indices closed in the red on Friday, with all Wall Street benchmarks giving up earlier gains by the close as renewed concerns about AI valuations weighed on market sentiment.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.09% at 51,876.11, while the S&P 500 shed 0.05% to 7,354.02, and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.24% softer at 25,297.62.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com