Weekly review

The FTSE 100 ended the week down 94.67 points to 6,021.09.

Equity view

BP and Rosneft have agreed to create a new joint venture, Yermak Neftegaz, to conduct exploration in the West Siberian and Yenisey-Khatanga basins in the Russian Federation.

Retail giant Tesco confirmed the sale of its Dobbies Garden Centres chain on Friday, to an investor group led by Midlothian Capital Partners and Hattington Capital.

FTSE 250 retailer JD Sports Fashion said on Friday that it is well placed to deliver an “excellent” first-half result.

HSBC said it will pay $1. 57bn to end a class action lawsuit over its 2003 purchase of Household International that could have exposed it to $3. 6bn in payouts.

Wealth manager Charles Stanley said full-year losses narrowed significantly as it underwent a major restructure, but revenue slipped.

The UK Supreme Court has ruled in favour of Lloyds Banking Group in a long-standing dispute over whether the bank was within its rights to buy back high-yielding bonds at par value.

Trading has remained subdued at N Brown but nowhere near as bad as analysts has been fearing, lifting shares from their four-year low with management confident that a second half improvement will see the clothing retailer hit its full year targets.

Fresh from the previous day's revelation that South African giant Steinhoff was mulling a takeover, discount retailer Poundland posted preliminary results that confirmed a decline in profits and the continuing challenges the sector faces.

France based electrical retailer Darty said full year group retail profits rose 24% to €93. 1m with revenue up 4. 1% to €3. 6bn and like-for-like sales up 3. 9%.

Luxury brand Mulberry – known for its iconic handbags – posted a jump in full-year profit as total revenue and retail sales grew.

Design, engineering and project management consultancy WS Atkins reported a 6% rise in revenue in its final results on Thursday, to £1. 86bn.

The Big Four supermarkets are most at risk of losing spend to AmazonFresh, according to research firm Nielsen, as the US online giant putting Tesco most at risk.

Luxury goods maker Jimmy Choo said it had made a good start to the year and trading was in line with expectations despite headwinds facing the majority of the sector in 2016.

Mining giant Rio Tinto said it was buying back $1. 74bn in debt securities as part of its plan to reduce gross debt and shore up its balance sheet against a backdrop of low iron ore prices.

Interim results from Crest Nicholson saw profits grow by a quarter as the housebuilder and said demand for new homes was remaining strong despite the clamour around a potential Brexit.

FirstGroup reported a rise in full-year profit despite a drop in revenue following the loss of rail franchises.

Passenger transport operator Go-Ahead Group released a pre-close trading update on Tuesday, in which it said its full year expectations for the year to 2 July remain the same.

First quarter retail sales at Ted Baker increased 12. 7% as the retailer said it expected full year results to meet expectations.

After a strong fourth quarter where profit margins grew to record levels, Ashtead has announced a bumper dividend and a £200m share buyback.

Health and safety technology company Halma said full year pre-tax profits rose 2% to £136. 3m as revenues jumped 11% to £807m.

Royal Mail has reached an agreement with Unite and made an improved offer to thousands of managers who had threatened to take industrial action.

Aveva has received a revised and conditional proposal from Schneider Electric SE to combine with that company's Software Business in exchange for new Aveva shares and a significant cash payment.

Kingfisher has booked total first quarter sales of £2. 7bn, up 5.1% in reported terms and ahead 3.6% in like-for-like constant-currency terms.

Economic news

The probability of a vote to Remain in next week’s EU referendum stands at 55%, according to Morgan Stanley, based on the expectation of a late swing in the polls.

The Bank of England has left interest rates and asset purchases unchanged and warned if the UK voted to leave the EU next week it posed a great risk to not only the domestic economy but also to world financial stability.

UK retail sales rose more than expected in May as shoppers picked up new clothes for summer, official data showed on Thursday.

Landlords borrowed less in April following the introduction of higher stamp duty on buy-to-let and second home purchases, CML revealed.

The UK unemployment rate unexpectedly fell to 5. 0% in the three months to the end of April, the lowest since 2005, but while the rate of job creation slowed, wage growth accelerated thanks the higher minimum wage.

If Britain votes for Brexit there will be an emergency budget which will include spending cuts and a rise in taxes, Chancellor George Osborne warned on Wednesday.

UK house price growth slowed in April compared to a year ago, according to the first combined report from the Land Registry and the Office for National Statics on Tuesday.

The probability that Britain will vote to leave the European Union rose to 36% on Monday, the highest level since the referendum was announced in February.

The odds changed when a poll by ORB commissioned by The Independent said the Leave campaign was 10 points ahead of Remain at 55% last Friday.

A rise in UK retail footfall in May provided some rare good news for the embattled sector, as the best monthly high street performance for three years outweighed a decline for shopping centres.

International events

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Thursday political uncertainty, a rise in populism and the refugee crisis has reduced cooperation in the eurozone and its ability to restore economic growth.

Eurozone finance ministers have approved the payment of around €7. 5bn of aid to Greece.

The cost of living in the US declined unexpectedly in May, but 'core' measures of prices gained further ground and looked set to continue to accelerate over coming months, belying worries of a weak US economy. The consumer price index advanced by 0.2% month-on-month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Bank of Japan (BoJ) kept its negative interest rate at -0. 1% and left its stimulus measures unchanged amid uncertainty surrounding Britain’s EU referendum on the 23 June.

US rate-setters kept policy unchanged when they met on Wednesday, but revised their estimates for the likely medium-term pace of policy tightening considerably lower.

US industrial production slipped more than expected in May, according to the latest data from the Federal Reserve.

US retail sales rose more than expected in May, according to data from the Commerce Department.

Employment in the euro zone and across the European Union in the first quarter of the year increased 0. 3% compared to the final three months of 2015, rising to the highest levels since the third quarter of 2008.

China needs to address escalating corporate debt to dodge a potential systemic risk to both itself and the global economy, a key International Monetary Fund (IMF) official has warned.

Chinese industrial production held steady in May but retail sales and fixed asset investments growth unexpectedly eased, data revealed on Monday.

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries stuck to an optimistic note on global oil demand in 2016, despite the recent decision by the World Bank to slash its projections for global growth.