Weekly review

London's FTSE 100 ended the week down 2.42 points at 7,104.31.

Equity view

Vodafone was said to be gearing up to sell a minimum of €3bn worth of securities convertible into shares in order to help fund its acquisition of parts of Liberty Global's European businesses.

Countrywide has been fined £215,000 by HMRC as part of a crackdown on estate agents turning a blind eye to money laundering.

Canada’s Court of Appeal has upheld the Superior Court's decision to force three tobacco companies to pay at least C$15.6bn (£8.9bn) of damages as part of near 20-year court case brought by a group of 100,000 smokers.

Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct International has made a £140m offer to take full control of home shopping company Findel.

A group of investors has filed a lawsuit in the US against eight lenders, including RBS and Bank of America, accusing them of conspiring to rig the European government bond market between 2007 and 2012.

Sports betting and gaming group GVC Holdings reported underlying profits at the top end of its full-year guidance and got off to a strong start to 2019 as its extracted benefits from its acquisition of Ladbrokes Coral.

Middle East-focussed private healthcare operator NMC Health announced the signing of definitive documents to form a joint venture in healthcare with Hassana Investment Company on Tuesday.

Debenhams reported a slowing in its sales decline in an update to the market, as the struggling department store chain worked to turn around its fortunes, though it did signal doubts over its profit expectations.

Carlos Ghosn, the former chairman of car giant Nissan, has been released on bail after nearly four months in jail in Japan.

Barclays has announced that three non-executive directors are stepping down from its board, including City veteran Mike Turner.

Aggreko's shares edged upwards on Wednesday after the company beat its own guidance following strong performances from its rental business and power solutions industrial unit.

Paddy Power Betfair said it was planning to change its name to Flutter Entertainment after reporting a rise in revenue but fall in profits for last year.

High-end fashion retailer LK Bennett has collapsed into administration on Thursday, putting 500 jobs at risk.

Vodafone will launch 5G in a total of 19 towns and cities across the UK during 2019, it confirmed on Thursday, revealing 12 additional cities would benefit from the new technology when the network goes live later in the year.

Annual profits at the John Lewis Partnership have fallen by more than 45%, as challenging conditions on the high street hurt sales across its department stores.

British bakery chain Greggs said it expected to pay a special dividend later this year after profits mushroomed last year and 2019 got off to a flying start.

Shares in fashion brand Quiz crashed as it warned on profits for the second time this year following a disappointing start to 2019.

Shares in sports betting and gaming group GVC Holdings tanked on Friday as the company’s top brass significantly reduced their stakes, just days after the firm reported an "excellent start" to the year.

Acacia Mining has been warned by the Tanzanian government that if it does not stop waste water pollution from its North Mara mine by the end of the month it could be shut down.

Debenhams said it was "disappointed" after Sports Direct called an extraordinary shareholder meeting to remove all but one of the current board and to appoint the sports chain's founder Mike Ashley as its new boss.

Economic news

British Prime Minister Theresa May has unveiled plans to boost UK regions with £1. 6bn of funding in what some MPs have labelled a “bribe” to win support for her Brexit deal.

The Financial Conduct Authority is considering changing the rules governing car financing, after it discovered that customers are potentially being overcharged by as much as £300m a year.

Theresa May's government does not expect to reach a deal with the European Union negotiators before the weekend, according to reports from Brussels on Tuesday afternoon.

Jeremy Hunt has said there were ‘reasonably positive’ signals coming from Europe regarding possible changes to Theresa May’s Brexit deal.

An immediate transition to a cashless society in the UK could leave behind over 8m people as some consumers lack the ability to pay for goods digitally said the latest report from Access to Cash.

Theresa May's government has continued to struggle in talks with the European Union and a senior cabinet minister has said that a Brexit delay is now "inevitable".

Woody Johnson, the US ambassador to the UK, has claimed that there is a “smear campaign” against American agriculture as he said US food standards would not lead to lower quality food than under current European Union standards.

Downing Street is preparing for a third meaningful vote in the House of Commons as it fears another big defeat for Theresa May's Brexit deal next Tuesday, as talks continue in Brussels with no signs of progress.

There was little love for the British high street last month, as retailers suffered their worst February for a decade, data published on Friday showed.

International events

US President Donald Trump and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping could sign a final trade deal by the end of the month, according to reports.

Huawei’s CFO Meng Wanzhou is set to sue the Canadian government, its border agency and the national police force, claiming that she was detained and interrogated before being notified that she was under arrest.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has warned that President Trump could still walk out of negotiations for a trade deal between China and the United States, even as the two superpowers appear close to a resolution.

The US Congress is on the brink of cancelling President Donald Trump's national emergency declaration after opponents of the measure in the Senate managed to round-up enough support in order to vote it down.

New satellite images of North Korea from the Center for Strategic Studies’ Beyond Parallel project and 38 North suggest that the country's government is rebuilding a rocket launch site it had vowed to dismantle.

America's total trade deficit jumped at the end of 2018, as the shortfall in its trade on goods yawned wider.

Italy will announce its support for China's 'Belt and Road' initiative in what would be the policy's first endorsement from a G7 nation, according to a report on Wednesday from the Financial Times.

France said on Wednesday it plans to introduce 3% tax on tech giants with revenues over €750m including French revenue of over €25m, such as Google, Apple, Amazon and Facebook.

US President Donald Trump has said he will be "disappointed" if it is confirmed that North Korea has begun rebuilding one of its missile launch sites.

Norwegian $1tn wealth fund announced on Friday it would dump its investments in oil and gas exploration firms but will still own stakes in firms such as BP and Shell that have renewable energy divisions.

Chinese exports suffered their worst decline in three years in February as the trade war with the US took its toll, according to official data released on Friday.