18 January 2021 | 16:38pm
StockMarketWire.com - The FTSE 100 was off its lows but still down for the day, closing 0.2% lower at 6,720.65 as the lack of any US trading thanks to Martin Luther King Day saw it struggle for direction
Device testing and analytics group Spirent Communications fell 1% to 260p even its annual revenue rose 4%, helping it to achieve a strong rise in earnings in line with its expectations.
Spirent Communications said it may return excess cash to shareholders, but warned that an ongoing Covid-19 impact on customer spending patterns meant growth in 2021 was expected to be second-half weighted.
Pharmaceutical giants AstraZeneca gained 1.1% to £76.78 on news that it and Daiichi Sankyo had received US approval for their gastric cancer drug.