Weekly review

Equity view

GlaxoSmithKline and its global specialist HIV company ViiV Healthcare, which it owns with Pfizer and Shionogi as shareholders, announced regulatory submissions to the European Medicines Agency and the US Food and Drug Administration on Friday, for a single-tablet, two-drug regimen of dolutegravir and rilpivirine, for the maintenance treatment of HIV-1 infection.

Online trading platform provider Plus500 surged on Friday after it announced a share buyback and said current trading has continued the positive trends outlined in the first quarter update back in April.

Amec Foster Wheeler has been awarded an engineering, procurement and construction management contract by BP Oil España to revamp the vacuum distillation unit at the Castellón refinery.

Metro Bank has completed the purchase of a portfolio of UK mortgages from Cerberus European Residential Holdings for £596.7m.

Barclays has increased the size of the sale of its stake in Barclays Africa Group due to "strong investor demand".

Business-to-business information company Ascential has sold its remaining 11 UK-based heritage brands to Metropolis International for £23. 5m in cash, which will be used to reduce its net debt.

Polymetal increased its stake in the Dolinnoye gold property to 50% in a bid to strengthen the company's Varvara hub concept.

Lloyds Banking Group announced on Thursday that it had completed the acquisition of MBNA - the UK consumer credit card business - from FIA Jersey Holdings, a wholly owned subsidiary of Bank of America, following the receipt of regulatory and competition approval.

LondonMetric published its final results for the year to 31 March on Wednesday, reporting a 5% improvement in net rental income during the period to £82m.

London-focused residential property developer Telford Homes has reported record revenue for the year to the end of March 2017 thanks to robust demand.

AIM-listed developer and provider of advanced surface coating technology, Hardide, has received an order worth $770,000 from GE.

Gemfields said on Wednesday that Pallinghurst's offer for the remaining 52. 9% of the group it doesn't already own "significantly undervalues the company, its unique asset base and its leading position in the coloured gemstone sector".

Anglo American said it had completed the sale of its 83. 33% interest in the Dartbrook coal mine located in the Hunter Valley, New South Wales, Australia, to Australian Pacific Coal.

Retirement housebuilder McCarthy & Stone has appointed John Tonkiss as its group chief operating officer with effect from 1 June.

CLS Holdings said it had bought a multi-let office property in Dortmund, Germany, for €35. 6m (£30. 8m) after costs from an unnamed US investment manager.

Shopping centre operator Intu Properties announced on Tuesday that both itself and TH Real Estate - on behalf of its pan-European investment vehicle, the European Cities Fund - had agreed to form a joint venture to own Madrid Xanadú shopping centre in Spain.

Economic news

UK construction activity improved much more than expected in May, according a Markit survey published on Friday.

Like-for-like retail sales on Britain's high streets were down 1. 3% in May, according to a survey published on Friday.

UK house prices fell for the third month in a row in May, the first time this has happened since 2009, according to a survey from Nationwide published on Thursday.

UK manufacturing activity slowed as expected in May, according to a closely followed survey published on Thursday, but economists disagreed over whether it would be enough to buoy the overall economy.

UK consumer confidence surprisingly improved marginally in May, according to a closely followed survey, though it still remains in negative territory.

UK mortgage approval numbers continued to fall in April, according to data from the Bank of England that also showed the lowest net consumer lending in a year.

Theresa May defended the Conservative party's plans for Brexit while Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn declared that he was not a dictator in separate election question and answer sessions broadcast on Monday night.

After years of sluggish growth UK real wage growth turned negative last month and, with wages being hampered by large numbers of zero-hour contracts, look unlikely to recover for years to come, said rating agency S&P on Tuesday.

International events

A possible new trend of oil being supplied to Asia from the US, Brazil and the North Sea has been identified, as the Opec production cuts alters global oil flows.

A raft of major US tech companies have condemned Donald Trump's decision to withdraw the US from the Paris climate agreement, including Facebook and Google.

Factory activity in China's manufacturing sector tipped into decline last month, according to the most widely-followed survey tracking the sector's health.

Eurozone manufacturing production rose at the fastest pace since April 2011 in May, according to data released on Thursday.

The German unemployment rate fell to 5. 7% in May from 5. 8% in April, in line with expectations and marking the lowest rate since records began in 1992.

At least 80 people have been killed in Afghanistan capital Kabul after a car bomb exploded in the city’s diplomatic quarter on Wednesday.

Italian political uncertainty is again high on investors' list of worries amid reports that the country's leading parties will press for snap elections, which might see non-establishment options win the day.

US President Donald Trump fought back at Angela Merkel on Tuesday after the German Chancellor gave a sharp speech in Munich about US trading practices.