Drug hopes see markets end on a high

Reports of a study where 113 patients showed rapid recovery from Covid-19 after taking a drug designed for fighting Ebola was enough to push stock markets up as traders clung onto any good news they could find.

A University of Chicago hospital taking part in a study found that patients on the antiviral medicine remdesivir, developed by Gilead Sciences, were nearly all discharged within a week.

The details published in healthcare publication Stat News helped push the FTSE 100 higher, closing out the day up 158.53 points, or 2.8 per cent, at 5,786.96.

Even overnight GDP figures from China, which showed a huge 6.8 per cent fall in the first quarter of the year, failed to dampen moods.

Joshua Mahony, senior market analyst at share trading firm IG, said: “Trial results have breathed a new sense of optimism into markets, with many seeing this as the potential beginning of the end for this coronavirus crisis.”

But bosses at Gilead Sciences would only say it looks forward to receiving data from other studies.

David Madden, market analyst at CMC Markets UK, said: “The bulls have jumped on this story and are using it as an excuse to keep the recovery in equity markets going.

“The pharma industry can be hit and miss, and it seems like this treatment is in its early stages yet, so there is a risk that dealers are getting ahead of themselves.”

Just Eat led the biggest fallers on the leading

FTSE 100 index as investors reacted to news that the competition watchdog had approved nearly £400 million of investment from Amazon to its food delivery platform rival Deliveroo. Shares in Just Eat closed down 250p at 7,784p.

Paddy Power and Betfair owner Flutter revealed it has been surprisingly resilient even as coronavirus took a major chunk out of turnover. Revenues jumped 16 per cent in the first three months of the year, despite a 46 per cent hit to its sports segment since horse racing was suspended in the UK and Ireland, with shares closing up 1,222p at 9,018p.

Shares in estate agent Foxton closed up

8.6p at 47p on news of plans to raise £22m from investors.