Weekly review

Equity look

The head of Aggreko's Power Solutions unit is standing down with immediate effect and by mutual consent with the company.

Closed-end investment company HarbourVest Global Private Equity announced its audited results for the year to 31 January on Friday, reporting continued growth in net asset value per share of 10% during the year, to $18. 47.

Non-standard lender Provident Financial said its Vanquis Bank and Moneybarn operations had made a good start to the year, trading in line with internal plans and “making excellent progress” in delivering initiatives to boost medium-term growth.

Redefine International has signed a 15-year lease with TK Maxx for a property in Derby for 50% above its estimated retail value as it spends £2. 2m on redeveloping the store space.

Insurer Beazley reported a 2% drop in gross premiums written in the three months to the end of March.

FTSE 250 building products distributor SIG posted a rise in revenue for the period from 1 January to the end of April but said it expects its first half performance to be lower than that achieved in the same period a year ago.

Unite Group said on Thursday that its business continues to perform strongly in 2017, with good levels of demand from students from the UK, the EU and other international students.

Switzerland-based Coca-Cola HBC, the world’s second largest anchor bottler of Coca-Cola products, issued its first quarter trading update on Thursday morning, reporting “good progress” on FX-neutral revenue growth, which was up 5. 2%.

Catering company Compass reported a rise in first-half revenue as it benefited from a weaker pound, and announced a £1bn special dividend.

AstraZeneca said on Wednesday that its asthma drug Tralokinumab did not meet its primary endpoint in a late-stage study.

Paddy Power Betfair announced its entry into the daily fantasy sports market in the United States on Tuesday, with the acquisition of an early-stage operator, DRAFT.

Advertising revenue fell at ITV in the first quarter and is expected to remain down for the first half, though production sales from the broadcaster's Studios arm and online growth were both strong.

The Renewables Infrastructure Group (TRIG) announced on Tuesday that it has completed the acquisition of a 100% interest in a UK operational wind farm, the Neilston Community Wind Farm.

International Public Partnerships announced on Tuesday that the company has successfully completed its placing, open offer and offer for subscription.

FTSE 250 outsourcer Mitie said on Tuesday that Derek Mapp will take over as chairman from Roger Matthews at the annual general meeting on 26 July, when Matthews will step down after 11 years of service.

Spirax-Sarco Engineering said sales growth in the first four months of the year has been ahead of last year, helped by an improvement in general industrial production growth rates.

Recoverable volumes at Hurricane Energy's Lancaster field are well over twice what was previously thought, fresh estimates revealed.

A scarcity of flotations and dealmaking has seen revenues and profits fall at small and mid-cap broker Numis Corporation in the first half of its financial year, but the interim dividend was held and trading in the second half started "very well".

The chief executive of construction and engineering group Costain, Andrew Wyllie, was set to confirm at the company's annual general meeting on Monday that current trading is in line with expectations.

British Gas owner Centrica said energy consumption has been lower than expected in the UK and North America so far in 2017 due to warmer than normal weather and that UK wholesale oil, gas and power prices have all fallen since it announced results in February.

Economic news

The housing market was stagnant in April, with national near-term sales expectations pointing to a flat picture over the summer, according to the latest survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

UK industrial activity disappointed for the second month in a row, according to official data published on Thursday that confirmed the economy lost some momentum in the first quarter of the year.

UK construction output fell 0. 7% in March, making the third consecutive period of negative month-on-month growth, according to the Office for National Statistics.

The UK economy is likely to grow slightly more slowly and inflation increase more sharply than the Bank of England initially expected, it said on Thursday as it otherwise left its main policy levers unaltered.

Low levels of implied volatility do not necessarily mean that something bad is lurking just around the proverbial corner, analysts at Morgan Stanley believe.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has decided not to charge Conservative candidates or party officials after mulling evidence from 14 police forces over electoral spending in 2015.

A thumping Easter trading period helped UK retail sales bounce back in April after a muted start to the year, though the industry sees the outlook as far from rosy.

Even two years away from Brexit, UK employers are already complaining of a shortage of suitable job applicants for a wide range of roles.

House prices in the three months to April were up 3. 8% on the same period a year ago, unchanged from March and remaining at the lowest annual rate since May 2013, according to data from lender Halifax.

Consumer spending growth in Britain weakened to one of the slowest rates for more than three years, getting the second quarter off to a slow start.

International events

US commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has described a new trade deal between the USA and China as a 'herculean accomplishment' in the latest example of improving relations between the superpowers.

Americans splashed out less on consumer goods in April, primarily on furniture, clothing, general merchandise and food and beverages.

The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week, according to data from the Labor Department.

The European Union's chief negotiator for upcoming Brexit negotiations has promised to aid Ireland in an attempt to prevent the return of a hard border, but warned that appropriate customs controls will have to be implemented.

FBI director James Comey has been fired from his position by President Donald Trump, bringing to a head ongoing tensions between the commander-in-chief and the US intelligence agency.

Italian industrial production grew more quickly than expected in March as output of capital goods and nondurable ones accelerated.

Moon Jae-in, a leftist liberal candidate, has won South Korea's presidential election following the impeachment of previous leader Park Geun-hye.

European markets, and many French people, were breathing a sigh of relief on Monday morning, with the news centrist Emmanuel Macron had crushed controversial far-right candidate Marine Le Pen in the weekend’s run-off election to become France’s next president.

Chinese export and imports slowed in April amid a small increase in capital outflows but economists were optimistic on both counts.

German factory orders grew at a brisk clip in March as strong demand from euro area countries offset domestic weakness, but economists spied waning momentum in the data.