Weekly review
The FTSE 100 rose by 223.49 points over the week to close at 6,954.21.
Equity view
Dogged by weak growth and high debts, Capita decided to offload the majority of its Asset Services division and a small number of other 'non-core' businesses, together with slashing 2,000 jobs in order to become leaner, cut debt and focus fully on business process outsourcing.
Business information and events group Euromoney Institutional Investor was under the cosh on Friday as Daily Mail and General Trust cut its stake in the company to around 49% from 67%.
Mulberry, the luxury English fashion brand, reported a loss for the first half despite a rise in sales, due to higher investment and the depreciation of sterling pushing up input costs.
A report that hinted at a potential government crackdown on fixed odds betting terminals sent shares in bookmakers Ladbrokes Coral and William Hill tumbling on Thursday.
It was another down day for UK spreadbetters on Thursday as BaFin revealed plans to clampdown on contracts-for-difference trading, hot on the heels of the Financial Conduct Authority’s announcement just two days before.
Trinity Exploration announced its intention to raise approximately $15m on Friday, by way of a placing and subscription of, in aggregate, 187,600,000 new ordinary shares at a placing price of 4. 98p - expected to raise gross proceeds of approximately $11. 73m.
Fyffes agreed to be bought by Japan’s Sumitomo in a €751.4m deal.
Online grocer Ocado’s full year sales were on the front foot, but the price of its average basket size fell amid squeezed margins as consumers spend less.
Global mobile satellite communications provider Inmarsat confirmed on Thursday it has signed a contract with Arianespace to launch its S-band satellite for the European Aviation Network on an Ariane 5 heavy lift launch vehicle.
Anglo-Swiss commodities giant Glencore is part of a consortium that is poised to buy a 19. 5% stake in Russia’s largest oil company Rosneft for €10. 2bn, as part of the Kremlin’s strategy to raise funds after a fall in commodity prices.
National Grid is to sell a 61% stake in its gas distribution business to a consortium of investors for about £3. 6bn and then return £4bn to shareholders.
Polymetal International announced on Thursday that, on 7 December, its board approved a special dividend of 15 US cents per share for the year ending 31 December.
Germany-based travel and tourism group TUI posted its full year results to 30 September on Wednesday, with turnover from continuing operations softening slightly by 1. 9% to €17. 19bn, though at constant currencies it did improve 1. 4%.
Barclays has selected Debenhams chairman Ian Cheshire as its number one candidate to lead its new ring-fenced UK bank as it prepares to adopt a new regulatory framework designed to insulate taxpayers in the event of a future financial crisis, according to a report by Sky News.
Drax surged as it announced a conditional agreement to buy Opus Energy for £340m and an agreement to acquire four open cycle gas turbine (OCGT) development projects for electricity generation, although it did also reiterate that full-year earnings were likely to be at the bottom end of market expectations.
The chief financial officer of Spectra Systems, a supplier of authentication technology for banknotes, brands and tax stamps, has tendered his notice and will leave the company by the end of the year.
British Airways and Iberia parent International Consolidated Airlines Group reported a 3. 2% rise in traffic for November from the same month last year, as measured in revenue passenger kilometres.
British American Tobacco was preparing to offer a higher price and possibly also a higher cash component for rival Reynolds American that same week, Bloomberg reported citing people familiar with the matter.
Pre-tax losses at hybrid online estate agent Purplebricks narrowed in the six months to the end of October as revenue grew and sales exceeded its full-year target.
AstraZeneca has completed the sale of rights to its nasal spray outside of the US with Swiss pharmaceutical Cilag for $330m.
Shares in luxury fashion retailer Burberry rose on Monday following reports the company has rejected multiple takeover bids from US peer Coach.
Budget airline Ryanair posted a jump in traffic for November as the load factor pushed higher.
Royal Bank of Scotland said it had agreed payouts to some shareholders to settle allegations that it misled them ahead of a £12bn rescue rights issue in 2008 at the outbreak of the financial crisis.
Economics news
UK housing demand increased continued to increase in November, according to surveyors, but a slow start to 2017's housing market is expected due to a lack of houses on the market.
Briatin's house price growth slowed month on month but over the last three months returned to annual growth after a period of softening post the Brexit vote, according to a survey by Halifax.
UK construction figures revealed a fall in output of 0. 6% in October against expectations of a small rise, according to official figures released on Friday.
Britain is facing its “first lost decade since the 1860s”, the Governor of the Bank of England said as he warned about the tensions from globalisation.
The UK financial regulator is planning to clamp down on the sale by spread betting companies of contracts for difference (CFD) and binary bet products to less experienced traders, including limiting leverage and preventing companies from attracting customers with special bonus introductory offers.
New car registrations in the UK rose 2. 9% in November to 184,101 units, driven by fleet and business sales.
The UK services sector grew more than expected in November, according to the latest survey data from IHS Markit and CIPS.
International events
Italians rejected their Prime Minister´s proposed constitutional reform by a wider than expected margin in the referendum carried out on Sunday, with markets initially apparently undecided on how to react to the result.
The European Central Bank on Thursday decided to extend its quantitative easing programme by nine months but at a tapered pace.
Analysts at Moody´s downgraded the outlook on Italy´s long-term debt rating in the wake of the results of the country´s constitional referendum and what they might signal for the cost and sustainability of its debt burden.
MPs voted in favour of scrutinising Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit plan before she triggers Article 50 by the end of March 2017.
US fast food chain McDonald's is moving its tax operations outside the country to London, in a further sign that large corporations are shrugging off the economic consequences of Brexit.
Price increases in Asia´s largest economy accelerated in November, turning China back into a net exporter of deflation globally.
President elect Donald Trump has pledged to “bring down drug prices” in an interview with Time magazine.
US coffee shop chain Starbucks has announced plans to add 12,000 more stores worldwide after it unveiled a new five-year growth plan which will attempt to increase its annual revenue by 10%.
Competition regulators at the European Commission fined HSBC, JPMorgan Chase and Crédit Agricole €485m for participating in a cartel in euro interest rate derivatives.
Japanese telecoms giant Softbank announced it will be investing $50bn into the United States and creating 50,000 jobs there, after its CEO Masayoshi Son met with president-elect Donald Trump.
South Korean smartphone maker Samsung has won a US Supreme Court case which overturns a lower court's decision to make it pay as much as $399m to rival Apple.