Weekly review

The FTSE 100 finished the week up 165.5 points at 7236.68.

Equity view

The date of the report by the UK competition watchdog into the proposed merger between Sainsbury's and Asda has been pushed back by eight weeks.

Lloyds apologised after a glitch left thousands of customers unable to access online and mobile banking resources on Monday.

Morgan Stanley has agreed to buy Canada's Solium Capital - a provider of software-as-a-service for equity administration, financial reporting and compliance - for around $900m in cash.

US hedge fund Cat Rock Capital Management has sent an open letter to online food delivery group Just Eat urging the company to merge with a "well-run industry peer" following the departure of chief executive Peter Plumb.

Japanese car giant Nissan has taken a ¥9.2bn (£65m) charge and slashed full-year profit forecasts as it continues to manage the fallout from the arrest of former chairman Carlos Ghosn.

Debenhams has secured a 12-month bridge loan as it looks to thrash out a long-term solution to its debts, and has teamed up with a new Hong Kong sourcing partner for its own-brand products.

Unite is to complain to the UK tax authorities about restaurant chain TGI Fridays, the trade union said on Tuesday.

Kering, the owner of luxury brands Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent, has shrugged off growing concerns about the strength of Chinese economy to post forecast-beating results.

Levi Strauss on Wednesday filed documents ahead of a public listing on the New York Stock Exchange, with the jeans maker returning to public markets after more than 30 years of private ownership.

Investors toasted Heineken on Wednesday, sending shares in the Dutch brewer 6% higher on forecast-beating results.

Smurfit Kappa fell to a paper loss last year due to charges from its unwanted exit from Venezuela, but the Irish packaging group's core businesses still delivered a strong improvement in profits and cash flow.

InterContinental Hotels Group announced the acquisition of Six Senses Hotels Resorts and Spas from Pegasus Capital Advisors for $300m in cash.

The Coca-Cola Company said that strong demand for zero-sugar fizzy drinks had helped it meet analysts' expectations in 2018 - but warned that organic growth would slow in the current year.

Shares in Puma slid on Thursday, after the German sportswear company posted a healthy set of fourth-quarter numbers but predicted a more conservative performance for 2019.

EasyJet on Thursday confirmed that it was in discussions with Italy's state-controlled railway Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane and Delta Air Lines about forming a consortium to explore options for the future operations of struggling airline Alitalia.

ConvaTec shares plummeted on Thursday after the company reported a “disappointing” fall in profits and unveiled a new plan to turn around its fortunes.

Royal Bank of Scotland doubled profits last year and celebrated by declaring a special payout on top of an ordinary dividend.

Share in Plus500 tumbled on Friday following a report suggesting the company may have misled shareholders over its losses in 2017.

Hotel group Millennium & Copthorne said Brexit was impacting its ability to hire European Union nationals as full year profits fell 28% to £106m.

Segro released a “strong” set of results for the year ended 31 December on Friday, reporting a 24.4% improvement in adjusted pre-tax profit to £241.5m, which it said reflected its development success and its focus on customer and portfolio management.

Economic news

Chancellor Philip Hammond’s 2019 budget could fall £5bn short of to fulfill his pledge to “end austerity”, the Institute for Fiscal Studies has calculated.

UK households are £1,500 worse off than they were predicted to be prior to the Brexit referendum, a think tank claimed on Monday.

The government’s immigration plans could harm higher education, the NHS and could potentially generate a new Windrush scandal, according to a new analysis.

The UK and Switzerland have formally agreed a trade deal which will see the two countries continue trading on the same terms post Brexit.

UK Chancellor Philip Hammond's claim of a Brexit “deal dividend” was ridiculed by a cross-party group of MPs on Tuesday as “not credible”.

MPs have urged official statisticians to ask for permission from the Chancellor to fix the "flawed" retail price index, which has led to train tickets and student loans growing by higher rates of inflation.

A compromise has been struck between European Union member states over the way money managers will be supervised once the UK quits the bloc.

UK business leaders published a list of twenty critical questions for the government to answer in order to prepare for a potential no-deal Brexit.

UK shop sales jumped more than expected last month, as households engaged in a bit of retail therapy in the face of the political and economic uncertainty.

International events

Democratic and Republican lawmakers reached a tentative deal late on Monday to avoid a new government shutdown next Friday.

Twelve Catalan separatist leaders began their trial Spain's Supreme Court on Tuesday, potentially facing up to 25 years in prison for their roles in leading the failed secession drive.

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and US secretary of state Mike Pompeo met to discuss the political situation in Venezuela on Wednesday, according to Lavrov.

US president Donald Trump indicated he could extend a crucial deadline as Washington and Beijing seek an agreement over trade.

American household debt rose to $13. 5trn at the end of 2018, fuelling concerns that the US is ill-prepared for any potential downturn in its economic fortunes.

Chinese exports unexpectedly rebounded in January, returning to growth and beating analyst forecasts, official statistics showed on Thursday.

The euro-zone economy continued to grow in the fourth quarter, official figures out on Thursday showed, albeit marginally.

Meanwhile, Germany narrowly avoided a recession last year as growth in the fourth quarter was flat, according to preliminary data released by Destatis on Thursday.

Trade talks between the US and China that were aimed at averting the imposition of new tariffs in March have broken up without reaching a resolution.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Friday called a snap election for 28 April after the government’s budget draft was rejected by parliament on Wednesday.