Market report: Tuesday close

DRUGS giant

AZ will today publish the latest clinical trials of Exanta at the American Heart Association conference in Orlando, Florida. It still needs permission from the Food and Drug Administration to market the drug in the US.

Brokers have high hopes for Exanta, which is used to treat thrombosis and prevent strokes. It will take up the running from Warfarin, which has been around for 50 years. Warfarin is used by sufferers of atrial fibrillation, such as Prime Minister Tony Blair. Irregular heartbeats sometimes create blood clots and can result in strokes. Exanta is used to thin the blood.

Anglo-Swedish AZ took a pasting yesterday ahead of the test results and following claims that its new fat-busting treatment Crestor faced growing competition from Pfizer's Lipitor. The group says it is pleased with Crestor's performance since it was launched in the US, where it notched up third-quarter sales of $56m (£33.5m). Crestor sales are eventually expected to reach $3bn a year.

Irish rival Galen jumped 53p to 774 1/2p despite seeing full-year profits drop from $149m to $116.3m (£70m).

Shares generally yesterday's losses, unnervedby the worst UK trade deficit on record. The FTSE 100 index finished up 3.3 points at 4345.1.

British Airways added 1/4p to 222 1/4p on further reflection of yesterday's results showing a sharp drop in interim profits. Broker UBS remains neutral but has raised its 12-month target price from 170p to 230p, while the national carrier's joint broker Merrill Lynch has repeated its buy recommendation and lifted its price target from 242p to 300p.

That puts BA on a prospective rating of almost 19 times earnings based on Merrill's operating profit forecast next year, which it has raised from £390m to £450m. Merrill is confident the recovery is under way. But brokers were saying the same thing last year and it failed to materialise.

Sir Martin Sorrell's WPP Group was a nervous starter, trading 5 1/2p cheaper at 567p ahead of publication of results from its biggest rival Interpublic.

Media group Emap rose 9 1/2p to 809 1/2p after lifting first-half pre-tax profits to the top end of expectations with a rise of 9% to £94m.

Northern Foods, up 6 1/2p at 141 1/2p, will appoint a new chief executive by the end of December, replacing Jo Stewart, sacked in September after three profit warnings. Interim pre-tax profits slumped 16% to £32.5m to 30 September, following the loss of a Sainsbury's contract worth about £6m a year.

Dicom Group firmed 7 1/2p to 677 1/2p on a 14% rise in half year profits. The software specialist will be meeting institutional investors later today and brokers have pencilled in £13.6m for full year, compared with £8.8m last time.

Stockbroker Charles Stanley, down 4p at 230 1/2p, doubled interim profits to £3m on an 11% upturn in share dealing in the first half but warned markets remain difficult. Turnover rose 11.8% to £30.1m. Buying Durlacher's private client and online share trading businesses have already boosted internet trading volumes.