Weekly Review
The FTSE 100 Index finished down 108.59 points on the week at 6,567.36.
Equity view
Banking group HSBC saw reported profits before tax drop 12% during the first six months of the year to reach $12.34bn (£7.33bn).
Travel tour operator TUI Travel said it delivered a strong result in the third quarter with underlying profits well ahead of last year, as it gave an upbeat outlook for winter trading. However, FX movements meant revenues fell 2%.
Temporary power and temperature control group Aggreko said its financial results for the first half reflecting a "significant adverse impact" from currency movements, though its full-year guidance remains unchanged after good underlying growth.
Strong net inflows helped Standard Life grow assets under administration 4% to £254.1bn in the first half of the year, with revenues, profits and cash all increasing.
Aerospace engineer Meggitt said profits fell 20% in the first half, reflecting the impact of currency headwinds and disposals on revenue.
Hotels group IHG gave an upbeat outlook but said underlying operating profits in the first half rose 6% to $301m.
Mexico-focused precious metals miner Fresnillo saw profits drop in the first half of 2014 as a result of "significantly lower" commodity prices and a sharp decline in gold production.
Budget carrier Easyjet said that passenger numbers in July were 7.7% higher than last year.
Asia-focused banking group Standard Chartered saw profits drop by a fifth in the first half on the back of continued weakness in the Financial Markets division, as well as challenges in Korea.
Randgold Resources said it is on track to hit its production guidance for 2014 after passing more milestones in the second quarter. Gold production in the three months to 30 June was down 2% on the first quarter at 277,283 ounces but up 41% on last year.
Rio Tinto hailed an "outstanding performance" in the first half as underlying earnings jumped by over a fifth and cash flow generation increased, with the miner topping its cash cost reduction target ahead of schedule.
South Africa-focused financial services group Old Mutual's bottom line suffered from a weaker rand in the first half, though the company hiked its interim dividend by 17%.
Economic news
House prices in the UK rose by an annual rate of 9.9% in July, LSL Property Services said on Friday. The report showed 90,000 properties were sold across the UK last month, up 21% from last year and 10% from the previous month.
UK housebuilding activity in July registered the sharpest rise since November 2003, led by a record pace of job creation and a shortage of supplies. The headline Markit/CIPS construction PMI fell from 62.6 to 62.4 but beat forecasts with housebuilding being the strongest performing category.
The services PMI rose to an eight-month high at 59.1 in July, higher than consensus estimates of 58 and up from the 57.7 reading for June.
The Office for National Statistics revealed that UK industrial production rose by 0.3% month-on-month in June, after slipping 0.6% in May, with the largest component, manufacturing, increasing by 0.3%.
UK house prices rose 1.4% month-on-month and 10.2% year-on-year in July, Halifax reported.
As expected, the Bank of England held interest rates at 0.5% and the asset purchase programme at £375bn this week.
International events
Portugal's central bank unveiled plans to save struggling lender Banco Espirito Santo (BES). BES will be split into 'good' and 'bad' banks as part of a €4.9bn rescue.
Various reports claimed this week that Russia had significantly ramped up the number of troops on the eastern border of Ukraine. The Kremlin denied the allegations.
German factory orders registered a surprise drop of 3.2% in June with data showing a decline in both domestic and foreign orders.
Rupert Murdoch's media group 21st Century Fox pulled its plans to buy Time Warner for $80bn, saying it would instead approve a $6bn share buyback.
Sprint said it would walk away from the takeover of T-Mobile US.
US drugstore chain Walgreen announced plans to buy up the remaining 55% of Alliance Boots that it does not already own.
European Central Bank president Mario Draghi warned that euro-area recovery remained "weak, fragile and uneven", that inflation would remain low for some time before gradually increasing and that further stimulus was not on the horizon. The comments came as the ECB kept monetary policy on hold.
Moscow announced a ban on food imports from the US and European Union in response to another round of sanctions on Russia.
Australia's unemployment rate has reached 6.4%, its highest peak in the last 12 years, reflecting the impact of weakness in China and other major export markets for the country's resources-reliant economy.
Adidas' profit dropped 16% for the second quarter of the year forcing the group to cut its margin target for 2014.
US President Barack Obama has authorised air strikes on Islamic militants in northern Iraq, saying that America could not turn a "blind eye" to what he called a "potential act of genocide" of the Yazidi people.
China's trade surplus hit a record $47.3bn in July, according to the country's customs administration, up from $31.6bn the month before. That was far in excess of the $27.4bn expected by economists.
Ebola was declared on Friday an international public health emergency by the World Health Organisation (WHO). The largest and longest Ebola outbreak in history, which has killed over 932 people in West Africa, constitutes a public health risk to other states, said WHO director general, Margaret Chan.