Weekly Review

The FTSE 100 finished down 46.66 points on the week at 6,501.14.

Equity view

Defence, aerospace and energy manufacturing firm Senior has poached Cobham's chief operating officer David Squires as its new chief executive officer, replacing Mark Rollins who is due to step down after 17 years with the group.

Advertising and public relations giant WPP will invest $250m in a sports marketing firm created by George Pyne, former president of IMG Sports and Entertainment.

Irish drinks maker C&C Group has called off its pursuit of Spirit Pub Company, as recently rumoured, leaving the way clear for Greene King to complete its recommended £723m takeover.

Housebuilder Persimmon revealed a 23% increase in full-year revenues to £2.6bn and said it was confident of delivering strong growth in annual pre-tax profits and cash generation.

Despite a record-breaking Christmas week, Sainsbury's third-quarter like-for-like sales declined 1.7%, though this beat City expectations of a 3.2% fall, and the grocer announced a new investment in lowering 700 prices.

Real estate investment trust British Land has sold a retail and office portfolio in an off-market deal to Legal & General Property for £219.6m.

Telecom group TalkTalk has acquired Tesco Broadband and the retailer's on-demand video service Blinkbox for an undisclosed amount.

Tesco saw its share price surge on Thursday after the company announced it would cut costs, close 43 unprofitable stores, lower prices and move its head office, as part of chief executive Dave Lewis's plan to revive the struggling supermarket chain. The company also said that LFL sales fell by just 0.3% over Christmas, much better than forecasts.

Tesco has poached Halfords chief executive Matt Davies, who will become the head of the grocer’s UK and Ireland business.

Womenswear sales at Marks and Spencer over the Christmas period were significantly worse than had been expected by City analysts, dragging general merchandise sales down badly as bad weather and distribution issues clouded the third quarter.

Economic news

Steve Webb, the pensions minister, has suggested retired workers could be given the option to sell their pensions.

People aiming to buy their first property in London have to pay nine times their annual income, research has shown.

Activity in the UK construction sector slowed to a 17-month low in December. Markit's purchasing managers' index (PMI) fell to 57.6 from 59.4 the prior month.

The UK services PMI fell to a 19-month low of 55.8 in December, from 58.6 the month before.

UK shop prices in December fell for the 20th consecutive month, the British Retail Consortium and Nielsen said.

UK new car sales registrations reached a 10-year high in 2014, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.

The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee left interest rates on hold at the opening meeting of 2015.

UK industrial production unexpectedly declined by 0.1% in November, the Office for National Statistics said.

The UK deficit of trade in goods and services shrank from £2.2bn to £1.4bn in November, the lowest level since June 2013.

International events

Investor confidence in the Eurozone improved significantly in January, according to data from Sentix. The consultancy's gauge of sentiment among investors increased to 0.9 points in January from -2.5 points in the month before, capping a third consecutive monthly increase.

Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has said the policies of opposition party Syriza, which is leading polls, could drive Greece into default and out of the 19-nation European single currency

Eurozone consumer prices fell 0.2% in December following a 0.3% increase a month earlier, adding to hopes of further stimulus measures by the European Central Bank.

The ECB said it will not provide Greece with more funding from February if the country does not complete a final bailout review from the EU and International Monetary Fund lenders.

Drinks giant Coca-Cola has announced it will slash up to 1,800 jobs worldwide as part of a new cost-cutting strategy.

The headline figures of Friday’s US jobs report mostly impressed: non-farm payrolls increased by 252,000 in December and November's upwardly-revised 353,000 gain, while the jobless rate fell from 5.8% to 5.6%, its lowest level since June 2008.

However, economists showed disappointment with the news that average hourly earnings declined by 0.2% last month. What's more, the labour-force participation rate fell from 62.9% to 62.7%.