ITV confirms new CEO, Centrica sets up gas JV
London open
The FTSE 100 is predicted to rise 31 points on Monday, according to traders in the City.
Stocks to watch
ITV has poached Carolyn McCall from easyJet to be its new chief executive. McCall takes the controls at the broadcaster after seven years at Easyjet, prior to which she was chief executive of the Guardian newspaper group.
Centrica and Stadtwerke München have agreed to combine Centrica's European oil and gas exploration and production business with Bayerngas Norge to form a newjoint venture. Centrica will own 69% and Bayerngas Norge's existing shareholders, led by SWM and Bayerngas GmbH, will own 31%. The gas-weighted joint venture will comprise Centrica's assets in the UK, Netherlands and Norway and Bayerngas Norge's assets in the UK, Norway and Denmark.
Newspaper round-up
The UK needs to prepare itself for weaker economic performance, two major forecasting groups have said, in the latest studies predicting the downsides of the Brexit vote. Fragile business sentiment linked to Brexit-related anxiety, domestic political uncertainty and squeezed consumer budgets have caused UK business confidence to drop to its lowest point for almost six years, the economic consultancy IHS Markit reports. - Guardian
Britain is paying hundreds of millions of pounds in hidden costs for a next-generation warplane that will be unable to function properly because of defence cuts. The F-35 Lightning II, the most expensive aircraft of its kind, has been described by Sir Michael Fallon, the defence secretary, as the “most powerful and comprehensive” fast jet in history. Its American manufacturer, Lockheed Martin, has said that the aircraft will cost Britain between £77 million and £100 million each. - The Times
The car hire industry faces investigation over alleged "fraudulent" repair costs after Europcar disclosed that consumers are suspected of having been overcharged by at least £30m. Europcar, one of the world's biggest car hire companies, is accused of systematically overbilling well over half a million customers for repairs over many years, in what could become one of the biggest consumer overcharging scandals in recent UK history. - Telegraph
US close
Wall Street gained at the end of the week despite the release of a slate of weaker-than-expected economic data, with mining and technology issues leading gains against a backdrop of stockmarket volatility at multi-tear lows.
Tech stocks were among the best performers, with a 0.8% advance in the Nasdaq-100 capping a six-day winning streak that left it about 1% off its record highs.
Against that backdrop, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the session higher by 0.39% or 84.65 points at 21,637.14, while the S&P 500 gained 0.47% or 11.44 points to 2,459.27 and the Nasdaq Composite was up by 0.61% or 38.03 points to 6,312.47.