Archived article
Please note that tax, investment, pension and ISA rules can change and the information and any views contained in this article may now be inaccurate.
UK markets have trended down as the Bank of England said it expected the UK economy to shrink by 9.5% this year and several European countries have seen a spike in the number of Covid-19 cases.
France has seen its highest number of daily cases in two months, while infections in Spain are climbing once again.
At 08.44am the FTSE 100 is 0.7% lower, or 40.17 points, at 6,064.55, while the FTSE 250 is down 0.4%, or 71.14 points, at 17,567.16.
Aviva has buoyed 6.5% to 302.9p on the news that the insurer has resumed its dividend, although it said it would review its payout policy after first-half profit was dented by Covid-19 and weather related claims.
For the six months ended 30 June, pre-tax profit fell 29% to £1.07bn.
ITV has sunk 2.9% to 59.14p after the broadcaster reported a sharp decline in profit in the first half of the year as its production and advertising was 'significantly' impacted by the pandemic.
Pre-tax profit plunged to £15m from £222m on-year as revenue fell 17% to £1.45bn in the first six months of 2020.
Packaging company Mondi has bounced 4% to £14.82 as it announced that 'softer pricing' prompted a decline in revenue for the first half of 2020 and lower underlying EBITDA.
But the company said that its strong financial position had allowed it to resuming paying dividends.
Mondi has climbed 4.9% to £14.94 as it resumed dividend payments, although the company saw revenue and underlying EBITDA decline in the first half on 'softer pricing'.
Glencore is 3.2% lower to 189.92p as the mining giant swung to a loss of $2.6bn, compared with a profit of $226m a year earlier following the impact of the pandemic on commodity prices.
GlaxoSmithKline is down 0.9% to £15.58 as the pharmaceutical giant said the US Food and Drug Administration had approved its a drug used to treat blood cancer patients.
Phoenix has risen 2.4% to 707.2p after it reported 'strong' cash generation in the first half of 2020 due to new business and raised its 2020 cash generation target range following its acquisition of ReAssure in July.
Serco has soared 8.4% to 2.2p as the outsourced services provider announced revenue grew by 24% to £1.8bn in the first half and profits also rose.
Its results were boosted by contract wins in 2019 and the acquisition of the Naval Systems Business Unit of Alion last August, while COVID-19 had 'little effect' on profits.
Mining company Evraz is down 1.9% to 315.8p as it cut its interim dividend and reported operating profit fell 2.4% to $891m on-year as revenue was down 18.8% to $5bn in the six months to 30 June 2020.