Weekly review

The FTSE 100 ended the week down 73.5 points to 6,710.28.

Equity view

Aviation support and aftermarket services company BBA Aviation announced on Friday that, after a number of approaches and a formal review, it has reached agreement with John Menzies on the terms of the sale of commercial aviation services subsidiary ASIG for $202m cash.

FTSE 250 banking and asset management group Investec said on Friday that it expects revenue for the first half to be ahead of the previous year, but operating profit will be down.

High street fashion stalwart Next showed sales growth across the business in its half-year results on Thursday, but earnings were still facing an uphill battle in its retail division.

Retirement service provider JRP Group, the newly merged Just Retirement and Partnership Assurance, raised its target for synergies from the deal as it delivered benefits ahead of schedule.

Chemical drug discovery company Cronin Group’s half year losses narrowed as it aims to digitise chemistry for manufacturing and algorithm-driven discovery.

John Lewis Partnership, the employee-owned department store giant, reported almost a 60% drop in profits for the first half due to industry price and wage pressures that will result in staff cuts and fewer store openings.

Supermarket chain Wm Morrison released its interim numbers for the half year to 31 July on Thursday, with first half like-for-like sales excluding fuel and VAT up 1. 4%.

FTSE 250 homeware retailer Dunelm reported a rise in full-year profit as revenue increased and the company grew its market share despite the growth of new competition, particularly online.

Galliford Try proposed a bumper final dividend after it reported a record annual profit thanks to strong growth and a positive outlook at its housebuilding, affordable housing partnerships and construction arms.

Sports, fashion and outdoor brand retailer JD Sports Fashion posted its interim results for the 26 weeks to 30 July on Tuesday, with revenue up 20% to £970. 57m compared to the first half of last year.

CYBG, the holding company of the Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank, has hit its targets for the first year since flotation and upped its guidance for loan growth and cost-cutting for the next three years.

Ocado claimed its best quarterly volume growth in four years, although a slight acceleration in group revenue growth in the third quarter thanks to the Morrisons deal was overshadowed by comments about the tough margin environment.

Planemaker Boeing predicted that the Chinese aviation market would generate over 6,810 orders for planes, with a value of over $1. 025trn, over the next 20 years.

Insurer Esure has begun working on plans to spin off its financial services comparison website GoCompare.com via a flotation on the London main market.

Love Productions, a television producer 70%-owned by Sky, has secured a much improved rights deal for its hugely successful The Great British Bake Off programme with Channel 4 after negotiations broke down with the BBC.

TATA Steel reported a loss in the first quarter due to the costs involved in the sale of its Scunthorpe operations.

RBS might require additional provisions in future periods in respect of litigation claims, which in aggregate "could be material", the lender said at a Barclays conference in New York.

Two executives left Lloyds Banking Group as chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio looks to reshape the government-backed bank.

Economic news

The Bank of England has voted unanimously to keep its policy unchanged on Thursday, as expected by economists.

Retail sales in the UK were not as bad as feared in August, according to official figures released on Wednesday, further lowering the likelihood that the Bank of England will adjust interest rates later in the day.

The UK unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4. 9%, official figures showed on Wednesday, with jobless claims rising and average weekly earnings growth slipping slightly less than expected.

UK inflation did not rise as much as hoped in August, according to official figures released on Tuesday, indicating that the recent fall in the pound has not begun to boost inflation yet.

UK house price growth slowed in July following Britain’s vote to leave the European Union, official data showed on Tuesday.

A deputy governor of the Bank of England, Nemat ‘Minouche’ Shafik, is to leave after just two years to join the London School of Economics (LSE) as director.

US consumer prices rose more quickly than expected in August, boosted by a sharp jump in medical care services.

Inflation in the eurozone was confirmed at 0. 2% in August, unchanged from July, according to data from Eurostat.

The number of Americans filling for unemployment benefits increased less than expected last week, according to data from the Labor Department.

US retail sales volumes decreased by 0. 3% month-on-month in August to reach $456. 3bn, according to the Department of Commerce.

US industrial production fell a touch more than expected in August, according to the latest data from the Federal Reserve.

International events

Negotiations between the UK and EU will start by the end of 2017 but not until after the German elections, the first president of the European Council said on Thursday.

Hiring in the euro-area reached its second-highest level since late 2008 in the second quarter.

UK bookmaker Betfair has lowered the probability of Hillary Clinton becoming the next president of the United States following a troublesome weekend for the Democratic candidate.

International Monetary Fund head Christine Lagarde has attacked anti-free-trade policies in a speech in Canada, in a move aimed at US presidential hopeful Donald Trump.

Global demand for oil would expand by 1.3m barrels a day in 2016, 100,000 barrels per day less than previously estimated, the International Energy Agency said in its latest Oil Market Report.

US Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard said on Monday said she wants to see a further pick-up in inflation and consumer spending before raising interest rate.

Former British prime minister David Cameron is to stand down from his constituency of Witney, two months after leaving 10 Downing Street.

OPEC kept its forecast for the rate of growth in oil demand for the back-half of 2016 and 2017 unchanged.