STOCK WATCH

INVESTORS in Diurnal Group caught a break yesterday after the pharma firm signed a marketing and distribution deal for its Alkindi treatment covering the Nordics.

Shares in the firm, which specialises in hormonal diseases, were £2 each last March but had dropped to a low of 21.5p by January. They rose 2.1pc, or 0.5p, to 24p yesterday as the tie-up with Sweden’s Anthrop Pharmaceuticals will allow it to sell the children’s treatment in Iceland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland.