Inkhabar webdesk

(Adds details throughout and background in paragraph 6) Oct 10 (Reuters) – Novo Nordisk has cut its cell therapy division, which has been trying to find a cure for type 1 diabetes, Bloomberg News reported on Friday. Nearly all of the division's 250 employees will be laid off, the report said, citing Danish newspaper Borsen. Novo Nordisk did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The move is part of CEO Mike Doustdar's plan to reduce headcount by 11% and reallocate resources to high-priority areas such as obesity and diabetes treatments, the Bloomberg report said. The Danish drugmaker is seeking partners to continue development of its cell therapy programs, the report added. On Thursday, Novo said it would buy U.S.-based Akero Therapeutics for up to $5.2 billion to gain access to a promising liver disease drug candidate, in the first major deal by the Danish drugmaker's new CEO to spur growth. (Reporting by Siddhi Mahatole in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Alan Barona)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

* FTSE 100 down 0.9%, FTSE 250 down 1.14% * Precious metal miners retreat after rally * Ibstock slides after profit drop warning (Updates after market close, adds lines on Trump's new tariff threats on China) Oct 10 (Reuters) – British stocks slumped on Friday after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened a "massive increase" in tariffs on Chinese goods, setting off a broad equities selloff in the final minutes of trading. The FTSE 100 closed down 0.9% to 9,427.47 points. The pullback pushed the blue-chip index into the red for the week by 0.67%. The mid-cap index was down 1.14% on Friday and also recorded a weekly loss of 1.8%. Trump also threatened to cancel a planned meeting with China's President Xi Jinping over a rare earths dispute, escalating trade tensions between the world's two largest economies. The renewed trade friction raised concerns about global growth, sending the U.S. benchmark S&P 500 index down 1.8%. Hopes for easy U.S. monetary policy and easing trade worries have helped major equity bourses rally to all-time highs, including the UK's blue-chip index, which scaled a new peak on Wednesday. In the market, the oil and gas sector was the biggest drag, down 2.9% as oil prices declined to multi-month lows on Friday. Shell and BP were the biggest weights on the FTSE 100 with 2.9% and 2.8% declines, respectively. The aerospace and defence sector fell 1.6%. Rolls-Royce fell 1.4%, while BAE Systems and Melrose lost 1.6% and 2.6% respectively. Resource-linked sectors also took a hit, with precious and industrial metal miners down 1.8% and 2.3%, respectively, tracking a dip in gold and copper prices. Endeavour Mining and Glencore were among the worst performers on the FTSE 100, as investors booked some profits after a recent rally. Among other stocks, Ibstock lost 4%, hitting its lowest level in over nine years, after the bricks and concrete maker warned its annual profit would fall below expectations. The stock was among the worst performers on the domestically focussed FTSE 250 and weighed on the broader construction sector, which was down 0.6%. Conversely, consumer staples stocks saw gains, with beverages companies up moderately, and personal care, drug and grocery companies up 0.9%. (Reporting by Sanchayaita Roy, Avinash P and Purvi Agarwal; Editing by Shreya Biswas, Chris Reese and Vijay Kishore)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

* Kim lauds Workers' Party for leading 'mighty people' to global status * Evening military parade watched for new ICBM that can hit mainland US * Kim flanked by Vietnamese, Chinese, Russian leaders at celebrations (Adds Chinese news agency report, paragraph 2) By Jack Kim and Joyce Lee SEOUL, Oct 10 (Reuters) – North Korea appears to have staged a military parade in its capital Pyongyang to mark the 80th anniversary of the creation of its ruling Workers' Party, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported on Friday. Yonhap attributed its report of the widely expected nighttime parade to an unnamed informed source. A report on China's official news agency Xinhua said visiting Chinese Premier Li Qiang attended anniversary celebrations in Pyongyang on Thursday and Friday and watched "grand mass gymnastics, artistic performances and military parades." The reports did not elaborate. Nuclear-armed North Korea has used such parades, usually coinciding with key anniversaries and recently staged at night, as a glitzy showcase of growing military power, rolling out progressively advanced ballistic missiles and military hardware. 'BULWARK OF INDEPENDENCE' AGAINST WEST This week's parade is being watched by officials and analysts for a possible display of the latest intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) powered by solid fuel with a range that can hit the U.S. mainland. A South Korean military official said earlier that a military parade was likely on Friday evening, citing indications of ongoing rehearsals involving troops, missiles and military equipment. At a ceremony on Thursday, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, flanked by leaders and officials of partner countries including China and Russia, declared that his country's global standing was rising by the day. Kim called North Korea a "faithful member of socialist forces" and "a bulwark for independence" against the threat of the West's global hegemony, state news agency KCNA reported on Friday. On the centre podium of the packed May Day stadium on Thursday, Kim was joined by China's Li Qiang, Vietnamese leader To Lam and Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev, with other foreign delegations and diplomats also in attendance. Kim honoured the legacy of the party that he said had made "not a single mistake or error" in its 80-year history, leading the country on a path of ascent riding on the wisdom and strength of the people, KCNA reported. "Today, we stand before the world as a mighty people with no obstacles we cannot overcome and no great achievement we cannot accomplish," he was quoted as saying. BUILDING TIES WITH VIETNAM The ceremonies in Pyongyang follow Kim's visit last month to Beijing for China's World War Two anniversary, which featured a massive military parade. KCNA said earlier that Kim received Vietnam's Communist Party chief To Lam, who is leading a large government delegation, with an honour-guard welcome and held talks on advancing cooperation to meet global challenges. Kim also held talks with China's Li, in which they said the visit marked a "new chapter" in advancing ties and pledged to expand strategic dialogue and high-level exchanges, KCNA said. Kim also met Medvedev, who expressed gratitude for North Korea's support for Russia's military campaign in Ukraine, Russian state-run news agencies reported on Friday. Khang Vu, a visiting scholar on East Asian politics at Boston College, said Vietnam and North Korea see each other as significant potential economic partners. While international sanctions against Pyongyang have limited cooperation, Lam's large entourage shows Hanoi wants to add a lot more substance to enduring Cold War connections, he said. "Vietnam can also be useful for North Korea to communicate with the West when Russia is being isolated while China has raised much skepticism," he said. (Reporting by Jack Kim, Josh Smith, Joyce Lee; Additional reporting by Doina Chiacu and David Brunnstrom; Editing by Chris Reese, Jamie Freed, Aidan Lewis)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)