FTSE off to a sluggish start after Christmas break

UK stocks including AstraZeneca have advanced after the drugmaker announced plans to develop a treatment for Alzheimer's and schizophrenia. BP has declined on falling crude-oil futures. AstraZeneca, the UK's second-largest drugmaker, has climbed 36p, or 1.3%, to 283.1p. The company says it has agreed to pay Turgescent as much as $300m over four years to help develop TC-1734, an experimental treatment. BP, Europe's biggest oil company, has fallen 10p, or 1.6%, to 611.5p while Royal Dutch Shell, the region's second- largest energy producer, has also lost 20p, or 1.1%, to 1,754p. Crud...