Weekly review

The FTSE 100 ended the week up 99.64 points to 6,052.42.

Equity view

Lower fuel costs pumped up Carnival Corporation in its last quarter, allowing the cruise line to turn a profit.

Blinkx may be exploring a possible tie-up with Redwood,California-based rival Yume to help get the company off the rocks.

It was a positive start to the year for United Carpets, with the retailer marking first half results on Friday.

Two senior executives at 888 Holdings sold shares in the gaming company.

Moody's Investors Service has placed BHP Billiton's credit rating under review for a possible downgrade.

Sportswear retailer Sports Direct issued a statement on Friday defending the way it treats its staff following a damning report in the Guardian.

BG Group said it had received approval from the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to construct and operate a natural gas liquefaction and export facility in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

Standard Chartered got a boost from a report that a sovereign wealth fund was willing to give it more breathing room to successfully complete its turnaround, before deciding what to do with its stake in the lender.

Apple named its first chief operating officer in four years on Thursday, as part of an end-of-year executive shuffle.

Newspaper publisher Trinity Mirror said it had lost its appeal against a £12m payout to victims of the phone hacking scandal.

AstraZeneca announced it will acquire a 55% stake in Acerta Pharma over its oncology treatment – a deal valued at $4bn (£27bn).

Goldman Sachs cut its forecasts for iron prices as it pointed to slowing demand and growing supply.

Domino´s Pizza laid the groundwork for its eventual exit from the German market on Wednesday, in what one analyst described as an "honourable withdrawal from a difficult situation".

Pharmaceuticals giant GlaxoSmithKline announced positive top-line results from the phase III programme investigating sirukumab, which is used for the treatment of patients with moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis.

Barclays agreed to sell its benchmark indices business, Barclays Risk Analytics and Index Solutions (BRAIS) to Bloomberg LP for around £520m.

Shares in women’s value retailer Bonmarche tumbled as the company warned over its full year profits and said chief executive Beth Butterwick was stepping down.

The UK will challenge any attempt by international regulators to ask smaller banks to hold more capital against the residential mortgages on their books, Sky News reported.

As well as revealing a solid start to its new financial year, Utilitywise, the corporate utility switching provider, has negotiated improved terms with a second energy supplier that will improve future cash flows.

Aveva Group and French suitor Schneider Electric terminated takeover talks after the pair were unable to reach agreement.

Royal Mail was fined €551m (£402m) by the French competition authority after an investigation into the industry's price-fixing cartel across the Channel hit a group including FedEx and TNT hit with total fines of €672m.

Economic news

The Bank of England will not hike interest rates anywhere near as quickly as the US Federal Reserve, Citi´s chief UK economist said on Friday.

Mark Carney suggested he may serve a full eight-year term as Bank of England governor, three years longer than his initial commitment.

The average UK house price will rise by half current values in the next decade to £419,000, according to a report released on Thursday.

UK retail sales rose 1.7% in November from October, beating economists' expectations for a 0.5% increase as shoppers made the most of 'Black Friday' bargains.

London's office real estate market will see rapid growth over the next 12-18 months, while the Paris market will remain subdued as a result of ongoing sluggish macroeconomic growth, according to Moody's.

The UK unemployment rate unexpectedly fell to 5.2% in the three months to October from 5.3% the previous quarter, according to official data on Wednesday.

Two polls on the UK's membership of the European Union suggested growing support for a 'Brexit' in a referendum that could be held next year, which could ramp up levels of market volatility in coming months.

Oil futures continued to slide lower on Monday, slipping below key levels of technical support, after Iran reiterated its intention to increase its supplies to the market in a bid to recover market share lost after economic sanctions were imposed on Tehran.

Wages were not growing strongly enough yet to merit a hike in Bank Rate but financial markets were nevertheless pricing in the first increase too far into the future, a top Bank of England rate-setter said.

The chairman of the Treasury Select Committee called for the re-examination of the need for an investigation following the near-collapse of HBOS in 2008.

International news

The US central bank on Wednesday raised its main policy rate by 25 basis points, as had been widely anticipated by economists

The US House of Representatives approved a $11trn year-end spending bill that will keep the government funded until next September.

Investors are growing weary of waiting for more policy stimulus out of Japanese authorities, but it will happen eventually and push the yen far lower, analysts at UBS believe.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday insulted Turkey with crude language over the shooting down of a Russian military jet but offered Donald Trump praise.

Fitch Ratings became the second major agency to strip Brazil of its investment-grade credit rating on Wednesday, downgrading it by one notch to BB+ with a negative outlook and potentially prompting further selling of Brazilian assets.

Russian airstrikes in Syria were still targeting opponents of President Assad and helping the Islamist forces they claim to be trying to defeat, said UK Foreign Secretary Phillip Hammond.

Economic growth in the world’s second-largest economy is expected to slow to 68% in 2016 from 69% this year, according to the People’s Bank of China.

German economic sentiment rose for the second consecutive month in December, according to the ZEW Center for European Economic Research in Mannheim.

French judges ordered that International Monetary Fund managing director Christine Lagarde stand trial over accusations of alleged negligence in the payout of €400m (290m pounds) to businessman Bernard Tapie while she was the country´s finance minister, according to reports.

European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker on Thursday said the European Union wants a “fair deal” with Britain over its membership in the bloc as Prime Minister David Cameron attempts to negotiate reforms.