Weekly review

The FTSE 100 index finished down 121.45 points on the week at 6,527.91.

Equity view

Cruise operator Carnival cheered with its third quarter results on Friday, after posting a rise in both quarterly and three-quarterly revenue.

Housebuilder Miller Homes has pulled out of its planned flotation, which had been expected to raise around £140m and would have valued the company at £450m.

Tesco on Friday unveiled the details of its new Android tablet which goes on sale on 9 October.

BP has requested that the US courts reconsider the September ruling that found it "grossly negligent" for a 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The judgement ran up potential liabilities for BP by $18bn.

Easyjet was flying high after reporting a strong finish to the year on Friday, with the group increasing its outlook for the second half after higher revenue per set led to an upbeat end of summer trading.

Responding to press speculation that the company could sell for £300m, Italian restaurant business Prezzo released confirmation today that it has indeed received offers but is unlikely to accept.

Continuing its price war against the "big four" supermarkets, discounter store Lidl has come up with its very own "50p challenge" in an amusing riposte to Sainsbury's gaffe earlier this week.

Payday lender Wonga has agreed to write of £220m-worth of debts for 330,000 customers, after implementing new affordability checks following a review of its lending practices.

Ophir Energy has discovered 1.03trn cubic feet of gas at its Kamba-1 well in Tanzania.

Domino's Pizza Group served up yet another tasty set of numbers on Thursday, driven by a strong UK performance thanks to improved economic conditions, continued emphasis on meal deal promotions and more customers ordering online.

Richard Branson's retail bank Virgin Money, the phoenix risen from the ashes of Northern Rock, has confirmed its plans to raise £150m with a flotation on the London Stock Exchange.

Second quarter numbers from Sainsbury were better than expected, with like-for-like sales excluding fuel down 2.8% as competitive forces in the grocery market accelerated.

Beleaguered grocery giant Tesco has been notified by the financial regulator that a full investigation has begun into its recent profit overstatement.

Interdealer broker ICAP revealed on Tuesday that revenue figures for the half-year ended 30 September are expected to show a 10% decrease from last year on a constant currency basis and a 15% decrease on a reported basis.

Majority state-owned lender Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) now expects to "significantly" outperform its previous guidance of approximately £1bn in total impairments for the fiscal year 2014.

Tesco has lined up a £2.5bn banking facility as a preventive measure in case of possible ratings downgrades.

International events

US non-farm payrolls rose to beat forecasts and the jobless rate fell unexpectedly, potentially adding to speculation of an interest rate hike.

The Eurozone's service sector cooled slightly unexpectedly in September. The European Central Bank (ECB) has decided to keep key rates unchanged and unveiled further details of its asset-backed security (ABS) and covered bonds programmes that launch in mid-October. Mario Draghi, President of the European Central Bank (ECB) has announced that the planned purchasing of assets for the next two years.

Share orders worth more than the size of Sweden's economy were cancelled in Tokyo after a 'fat finger' error, the Japan Securities Dealers Association has revealed.

Shelling continued in Donetsk in eastern Ukraine despite the ceasefire signed between Kiev and pro-Russian separatists last month.

Goldman Sachs lowered its forecast for China growth on Wednesday after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said it expected the world's second largest economy to expand faster in 2015 than previously thought.

Economic news

The UK construction sector activity has hit a new eight-month high, thanks to the housebuilding sector, according to Markit's purchasing managers' index (PMI) reading for September.

The Bank of England (BoE) on Thursday called for new powers to curb mortgage lending amid concerns over the housing market.

Prime Minister David Cameron has proposed two major tax cuts, the abolishment of zero-hours contracts and a referendum on European Union membership if the Conservative Party wins the next general election.

UK manufacturing activity reached a 17-month low in September on weaker demand, data showed on Wednesday.

David Miles, a member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England (BoE) said the bank should not be too specific when it comes to providing guidance on the future path of interest rates.

British building society Nationwide revealed a 0.2% decline in average house prices for September, marking the first average house price drop in 17 months.

September's UK consumer confidence figures fell slightly following June's nine-year high, as households became slightly less positive about personal finances and the overall economic outlook, according to a GfK survey released on Tuesday.

Chancellor George Osborne on Monday proposed a two-year freeze on benefits paid to people of working age.