Weekly review

The FTSE 100 ended the week up 107.14 points to 5,900.01.

Equity view

Aircraft marker Boeing will reduce the production of its iconic 747 jumbo jet by half, the company confirmed on Friday

Close Brothers’ loan book rose 49% in the five months to the end of December to £6bn, reflecting growth across all of the group’s lending businesses.

WPP’s global digital agency POSSIBLE Worldwide has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Conrad Caine GmbH, a full service German digital agency, for an undisclosed sum.

Third quarter rent rolls at office space provider Workspace rose 23% to £808m while enquiry and letting activity picked up “significantly” in the new year

Chemring was under pressure after the defence company announced a discounted rights issue, a cut to its dividend and a wider pre-tax loss for the year.

Kazakhstan-based Nostrum Oil and Gas has outlined measures it intends to take to minimise its exposure to low oil prices.

Global technology company Laird said it expected full year earnings to be in line with expectations and consistent with its third quarter trading update as 2015 revenues rose.

Russian miner Polymetal said 2015 gold production fell 9% to 861,000 ounces, while silver production rose 12% to 321m ounces

Royal Mail delivered the goods in a strong Christmas period, with UK parcel volumes in December were 6% better than the year before, and said it was on track to reduce UK parcel costs by at least 1% for the full year.

Mild winter weather and a decision to reduce promotional activity on some products led to Premier Foods disappointing investors with a decline in branded sales over Christmas.

Barclays said it would cut investment banking jobs in London, New York and across Asia, in places such as Hong Kong and in Australia, Bloomberg reported.

JD Wetherspoon said like-for-like sales improved in the first 12 weeks of the second quarter but that operating margins would be 11% lower than the same period last year due to increased labour costs

BHP Billiton maintained full year guidance for oil, copper and coal but iron ore production is expected to be reduced by 10m tonnes due to the dam disaster at Brazil's Samarco.

Shell said it expected full year 2015 earnings on a current cost of supplies basis excluding identified items to be in the $104bn (£73bn) – $107bn range.

Stationer and newsagent WH Smith said sales from its shops at airports and train stations were up 5% in the 20 weeks to 16 January although High Street sales were flat over the period.

Gold and silver miner Fresnillo said full year silver output was at the top end of its guidance while gold production surpassed its estimates and the miner now plans to increase its 2016 production.

A year-end update from Evraz revealed production by the steel group fell in 2015 despite higher output in the fourth quarter.

Asda has confirmed it is beginning staff consultations on Monday ahead of what could be hundreds of job cuts.

Transport operator Stagecoach has appointed Tim Shoveller as managing director of the group’s UK rail division, which includes South West Trains and East Midlands Trains.

Economic news

UK Chancellor George Osborne's fiscal plans got a shot in the arm on Friday as the Office for National Statistics reported a substantial improvement in British public finances in December.

The Office for National Statistics said UK retail sales fell 1% in December from a month ago, more than the 0.1% drop that was expected by analysts.

Automobile production in the UK has risen to a 10-year high in 2015, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors UK house price balance edged higher from +49 in October to +50 for November, in-line with economists’ expectations.

The ranks of the employed in Britain reached their highest level since at least nearly half a century ago in the quarter to the end of November, although one measure of wage growth disappointed again - leaving economists divided on the inflation outlook in its wake.

The FTSE 100 dropped into bear-market territory on Wednesday, having fallen by over 20% in intra-day trading from the peak it reached on 27 April 2015.

UK consumer prices rose by slightly more than expected in December, with so-called ‘core’ consumer prices coming in comfortably ahead of market expectations

Prices for UK homes accelerated in November, with England pacing gains, the ONS revealed.

The newest member of the Monetary Policy Committee Gertjan Vlieghe said on Monday he would be patient when it came to raising the Bank Rate.

International events

Sales of second-hand homes in the US snapped back at the end of 2015, thanks to warm weather and as buyers faced the prospect of higher mortgage rates in coming months

The managing director of International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, whose official term in office ends on 5 July, has confirmed she will put herself forward for a second term in office.

Fourth quarter earnings from Goldman Sachs fell short of expectations due to money set aside to pay a regulatory settlement for mortgage-backed securities it sold in the lead-up to the financial crisis.

The European Central Bank on Thursday decided to keep its key rates unchanged, as expected by analysts.

The US consumer price index rose 0.7% in the year to December, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Wednesday, marking an improvement on the previous month’s 0.5% year-on-year growth but below expectations of 0.8% and a long way off the Federal Reserve's 2% target.

Unemployment increased last week Stateside, according to one of the most-tracked barometres of the labour market's health, as firms moved to shed workers taken on ahead of the holidays.

US oil stockpiles continued rising last week despite a fall in imports, according to data from the IEA.

US housing starts fell in December, missing economists’ expectations, according to data released by the Commerce Department.

The International Monetary Fund has cut its global growth forecasts for the next two years, as the slowdown in China, weaker commodity prices and strain in some large emerging market economies weigh on prospects.

Eurozone inflation improved in line with expectations in December, driven by higher prices charged at restaurants and cafes, Eurostat revealed.

The Chinese economy continued on a glide path in the last quarter of 2015, with some economists apparently sanguine on the chances of a successful and controlled slowdown in Asia's largest economy.