Shares in Novavax were down 2.7% in pre-market trading on Monday, extending a nearly 6% plunge on Friday, after US federal regulators requested that the pharmaceutical company conduct an additional clinical trial for its COVID-19 vaccine. This came after a delay in the approval process.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has asked the Maryland-based company to demonstrate the effectiveness of its vaccine through another study. According to the Wall Street Journal, this intervention came after appointees under Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. became involved in the approval process.

In response, Novavax stated that it has addressed the FDA’s Post Marketing Commitment (PMC) request and is now awaiting feedback from the agency.

The vaccine maker said that its application remains "approvable" and that it is eager to move towards approval "as soon as possible," though it did not provide further details.

The FDA's request for new data could offer Novavax an opportunity to negotiate for a smaller, less costly study, which might only require a few million dollars, the newspaper reported.

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Marks & Spencer swung lower for a sixth consecutive session on Monday, shaken by the fallout from a cyber attack that caused it to pause online orders last week.

“Our experienced team – supported by leading cyber experts – is working extremely hard to restart online and app shopping,” the company said.

It's currently the top faller in the FTSE 100.

Pedro Goncalves writes:

Gold prices edged lower on Monday as a softening in tensions between the United States and China reduced demand for traditional safe-haven assets. A stronger dollar added further headwinds for the precious metal.

Gold futures were down by 0.2% to $3,292.00 per ounce at the time of writing, while the spot price slipped 0.8% to trade at $3,309.68 an ounce.

Investors have historically turned to gold during periods of geopolitical and economic uncertainty, as well as in low interest rate environments. But recent signs of improved dialogue between Washington and Beijing have tempered those concerns.

“Financial markets, and risk assets in particular, are feeling slightly better about the tariff picture compared to earlier this month,” Tim Waterer, chief Market Analyst at KCM Trade, told Reuters.

"Comments last week from the White House have fuelled optimism that a US-China trade deal may eventuate, which has caused safe haven demand for assets such as gold to subside."

The firmer dollar also played a role in weakening bullion prices, as a stronger greenback makes gold more expensive for holders of other currencies.

Deliveroo shares jumped more than 15% on Monday in London, spurred on by a takeover attempt by US food delivery peer DoorDash. The offer, said to be worth $3.6bn hit the news on Friday but there's still uncertainty about a firm deal.

Reuters reported Deliveroo has given DoorDash a May 23 deadline to make a firm offer.

Our US team writes:

Stock futures edged lower ahead of a big week of earnings reports and macroeconomic data that will continue to paint an early picture of the US economy's response to President Trump's tariffs.

Futures tied to the S&P 500 (ES=F) slipped 0.5%, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM=F) drifted down 0.4%. Futures attached to the Nasdaq (NQ=F) slipped 0.6%.

Wall Street is coming off a rebounding run last week, with the S&P 500 notching its longest daily positive streak since January. The gains came as Trump eased pressure on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, as well as hinted at light at the end of the tunnel for 145% tariffs on China. Wall Street looks positive, yet skittish, with plenty of room for growth before closing out the last trading week of what has been an eventful April.

Earnings are the highlight of the week ahead, with 180 S&P 500 companies expected to report quarterly financial results. Big Tech leads the way, as Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN), Meta (META), and Microsoft (MSFT) are all due in the coming days, alongside Coca-Cola (KO), Eli Lilly (LLY), and Chevron (CVX).

Hello from London. Lucy Harley-McKeown here, ready to bring you the markets and business news of the day.

Today is relatively quiet, with some corporate update. The main geopolitical event is the Canadian general election in which former Bank of England governor Mark Carney is leading the liberal party opposing conservative candidate Pierre Poilievre.

In corporate news, headlines are likely to come from Domino's Pizza (DPZ).

Otherwise, tariff discussions are back on the slate.

Let's get to it.