Weekly review

The FTSE 100 ended the week down 61.4 points to 6,139.79.

Equity view

Under-fire Sports Direct boss Mike Ashley has rounded on MPs trying to force him to appear before a commons select committee, accusing them of being "deliberately antagonistic".

Royal Dutch Shell has reportedly appointed investment bank Lazard to advise the oil giant on a $30bn asset sale programme following its acquisition of BG Group.

Along with preliminary results for calendar 2015, Old Mutual Group announced it will separate its four underlying businesses - Old Mutual Emerging Markets (OMEM), Nedbank, Old Mutual Wealth (OMW) and OM Asset Management (OMAM).

Pensions provider Just Retirement said six-month pre-tax profits rose to £26.1m compared to a £9. 2m loss for the same period last year, as the group prepared for its merger with Partnership next month.

FTSE 250 oil services group Petrofac has secured a five-year contract worth around $250m (£175m) to act as duty holder supporting Anasuria Operating Company, which is a joint venture between Hibiscus Petroleum Berhad and Ping Petroleum.

Computacenter posted a rise in full year pre-tax profit as a slip in revenue was offset by a gain from the disposal of its RD Trading recycling subsidiary.

FTSE 250 pubco J D Wetherspoon saw more cash across its bars in the first half of its financial year, with revenue up 6.2% to £790.3m from £744. 4m and like-for-like sales up 2.9%.

IP Group has received net cash proceeds of £13. 1m from the sale of its entire holding in portfolio company Tracsis.

Barclays had received strong expressions of interest in its African banking franchise since it announced its intention to sell, just one week before, the bank’s chief said on Thursday.

Staff bonuses at the John Lewis Partnership were being cut for the third year in a row on Thursday, with the company's workers told to expect payouts equivalent to 10% of their annual salary in 2016.

Final results from Prudential showed pre-tax profit falling short of expectations but a bumper dividend and reassuring words from chief executive Mike Wells on the outlook in the UK, US and Asia helped lift the shares on Wednesday morning.

Intercontinental Stock Exchange is reportedly lining up financing for a bid for the London Stock Exchange to rival Deutsche Boerse’s offer.

Supermarket chain Tesco is reportedly looking to expand its presence in the UK mobile market by buying O2’s stake in their 50:50 mobile joint venture as it takes advantage of the fallout from Hutchison’s takeover bid.

Shares in G4S tumbled on Wednesday after the security firm posted a drop in 2015 pre-tax profit and revenue, mainly on the back of onerous contracts and restructuring costs.

Sky has formed a strategic partnership that will see it invest $45m (£31. 6m) in Southeast Asian streaming TV service, iflix.

The Restaurant Group served up a solid set of results for 2015, but like-for-like sales have faltered as the challenging trading conditions from the end of last year continue into 2016 and look set to linger for longer.

Sainsbury's was the only one of the Big Four supermarkets to enjoy increased spending in the last three months, though Tesco halved its sales decline, according to data from Kantar Worldpanel.

Estate agency Foxtons posted a drop in full year pre-tax profit as the Central London market from which it generates a significant proportion of its revenues remained challenging.

Fashion chain Burberry has been seeking help from its financial advisers to defend against a possible takeover bid after it was found that a mystery investor had built up a 5% stake in the company, according to reports.

UK energy firm Npower has confirmed plans to cut 2,400 jobs after a year when billing issues led to the loss of 350,000 customers and a financial loss of €137m (£106m).

Fastjet's share price plunged early on Monday, after the Africa-focused airline issued a stark warning over its long-term viability as challenging market conditions in the continent continued

Economic news

British consumers expect prices of goods and services to rise more slowly during the next 12 months, with a Bank of England survey finding public expectations of UK inflation have fallen to 1. 8% from the previous 2%.

The UK trade deficit narrowed slightly in January, data from the Office for National Statistics showed, with a record level of UK traded goods deficit with EU in January adding fuel to the Brexit debate.

UK construction output surprisingly slipped 0. 2% in January compared with December, data from the Office for National Statistics showed on Friday, well short of analysts' forecasts for a 0. 3% rise.

Mortgage borrowing fell 25% month-on-month in January, according to data from lenders, though remortgaging rose 35% compared to December.

UK economic growth slowed over the last three months, according to the National Institute of Economic and Social Research.

The UK economy is expected to grow less than previously estimated this year amid a global economic slowdown, the British Chambers of Commerce said on Friday.

UK industrial performance improved in January but not as much as expected, with freshly released data from the Office for National statistics painting a mixed picture on Wednesday.

Bank of England Governor Mark Carney offered a parliamentary committee a balanced opinion on membership of the European Union, saying it benefitted the UK economy by increasing its openness but admitted there were risks from remaining in the EU and in particular from developments in the euro area.

Britain's economy would survive without the EU, one of the City's leading lobby groups said on Wednesday, but going ahead with Brexit would risk damaging the square mile's competitiveness. TheCityUK outlined what it believed would be the consequences of leaving the EU, and said a financial services agreement between the UK and Europe was a possibility, but what scope it would take remained unclear.

Strong furniture sales helped buoy the High Street in February even as overall pace of consumer spending slowed. Like-for-like retail sales grew by 0.1% month-on-month in February following a gain of 0.2% in the month before, according to the British Retail Consortium.

International events

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said inflation is expected remain in negative territory in coming months as the central bank decided to cut all key rates and expand its quantitative easing programme. The ECB slashed its main interest rate by 5 basis points (bps) to 0.00% and increased quantitative easing (QE) by €20bn to €80bn a month starting in April. The ECB also cut the deposit facility rate by 10bps to -0.40 and lowered the marginal lending facility rate to 0.25% from 0.30%.

US import prices fell less than expected in February, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed.The Labor Department said import prices dropped 0.3% last month after a revised 1.0% decrease in January. Analysts had pencilled in a 0.7% slide.

Initial US weekly unemployment claims fell by 18,000 over the week ending on 5 March to reach 259,000, according to the US Department of Labor.

Oil prices rallied on Wednesday as government data showed US crude stockpiles rose in line with analysts’ expectations. Crude stocks increased 3.9m barrels to a total 521.9m barrels in the week to 4 March, according to the Energy Information Administration.

China's trade surplus shrank far more quickly in February than markets had anticipated, but some economists cautioned the data was still subject to distortions linked to the Chinese New Year, even as they pointed out signs of underlying strength.

The Eurozone economy grew 0.3% in the fourth quarter, in line with analysts’ expectations, Eurostat revealed on Tuesday.

Eurozone investor confidence is expected to fall in March amid concerns about the global economy, according to a survey on Monday. Sentix’s forward-looking survey on investor confidence showed the index measuring sentiment in the Eurozone fell to 5.5 in March from 6.0 a month earlier. Analysts had forecast a reading of 8.3.

The Chinese government's stash of foreign reserves was little changed last month, leading one think-tank to the conclusion that Beijing's policies of tighter capital controls and communicating better that it was not its intention to devalue the currency were bearing some fruit.