Weekly review

Equity view

The Restaurant Group announced the appointment of Kirk Davis as Chief Financial Officer on Friday before the market open.

Domino's Pizza Group announced the creation of a partnership with its largest franchisee in London on Friday.

Pub operator and brewing company Greene King announced on Friday that Richard Smothers would be joining the firm in December 2017, and joining the board as chief financial officer in February 2018.

Nationwide Building Society reported a dip in profit before tax for the first quarter on Friday, to £322m in the period from 5 April to 30 June, compared to £401m in the same period last year.

Higher commodity prices boosted first half earnings at Glencore with adjusted earnings before interest, tax depreciation and amortisation up 70% to $6. 7bn as the company said the growth in the electric car and battery storage market would unlock new demand for metals.

Aldermore missed analysts' interim profit forecasts despite a reduction in its cost-to-income ratio, but held out the prospect of dividend payments, saying it was on track to meet targets for beefing up its capital buffers.

Coca-Cola HBC, one of the Coca-Cola Company’s largest bottlers, posted solid first-half growth on Thursday with volume rising 1. 4% to 1. 02bn unit cases, while net sales revenue was ahead 5. 6% at €3. 21bn.

Oil and gas services company Amec Foster Wheeler said first half trading profits fell 8% to £162m as weak upstream oil and gas markets took their toll.

LondonMetric Property has acquired Burlington Retail Park in South West London for £28. 3m, from an unnamed “large UK institution”, it announced on Wednesday.

General insurance provider Hastings Group Holdings said it had continued to maintain its “strong momentum” through its first half on Wednesday, adding it was on track for another year of “profitable growth” as gross written premiums improved 28% to £462m.

Energy asset investment company Riverstone Energy reported a 1. 8% decline in its net asset value during the first half, it said on Wednesday, to $19. 74 per share when compared to 31 December last year.

Interim pre-tax profits at engineering group Spirax-Sarco rose to £88. 5m from £73. 4m as revenue grew 25% to £428.6m.

Worldpay has been given an extension by the UK Takeover Panel to allow it to finalise 'put up or shut up' talks with US suitor Vantiv.

Revenue at Paddy Power Betfair rose 9% on an underlying pro forma basis, the bookmaker and gaming firm said on Tuesday, to £827m, with EBITDA ahead 21% on the same basis to £220m.

Housebuilder Bellway expects to increase revenues 13% and on slightly stronger profits margins for the 12 months to 31 July.

Standard Life posted much better than expected bottom line growth amid a slight increase in the volume of assets under management and a moderate increase in its fee income.

Ultra Electronics' top and bottom lines were little changed at the half-year stage, but the company sounded a confident note on the full-year outlook, pointing to a "strong" order intake during the final part of the reporting period.

Health and safety products group Halma has completed two overseas acquisitions in its medical business for the equivalent of £13. 2m and £4. 9m, both of which are expected to be immediately earnings enhancing.

Betting group Paddy Power Betfair said interim revenue growth would be up 9% and underlying EBITDA up 21% when it reports on Tuesday, as it revealed the departure of chief executive Breon Corcoran as CEO after 16 years in the job.

NewRiver REIT announced on Monday that its chief executive David Lockhart was shortly undergoing an elective procedure that will require him taking a leave of absence.

Economic news

Michael Saunders, an external member of the Bank of England's monetary policy committee has said leaving the European Union will have long-term effects on the British economy while arguing there may still be a case to increase interest rates sooner rather than later.

Research from Oxford Economics published on Friday said that house price growth in the UK is "running out of steam," with a prolonged period of modest growth likely ahead.

UK industrial activity improved more than expected in June as manufacturing production and mining production improved.

Britain's trade deficit with the rest of the world increased in June on the back of higher volumes of imported goods and services.

The Bank of England's ability to regulate the UK's financial sector will be put under strain as a result of Brexit, deputy governor Sam Woods warned on Wednesday.

Housing activity in the UK disappointed in July, with both sales and enquiries seeing a continued lack of momentum, according to a new survey.

UK retail sales growth slowed in July from the previous month's weather-assisted rally, as food sales counterbalanced falling non-food sales.

UK employers are finding it more and more difficult to recruit staff as candidate availability struggles to keep up with demand, new research showed on Tuesday, though this is driving up wages.

House prices in Britain levelled off in recent weeks but continued a slow decline over quarter as a whole.

News that the Chinese government had asked steel producers in the country's four northern regions to cut output during the winter stoked gains in steel and iron ore prices.

International events

US President Donald Trump has refused to back down on threats of ‘fire and fury’ made to North Korea earlier this week, doubling down on his stance against King Jong-un’s regime.

According to a recent poll of economists undertaken by Reuters, the US economic expansion will last "at least another two years," but perhaps not at the speed which the Trump administration had promised.

Industrial production in France surprised to the downside in June amid broad-based declines in all sectors.

Ken Rogoff, former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned that rising interest rates "threaten the global economy. ".

The cost of living in China retreated last month as the rate of advance in non-food prices slowed to a seven-month low.

South Africa's president Jacob Zuma has narrowly survived the no-confidence vote against him in parliament on Tuesday, dashing the hopes of traders who had eyed up the rand so intensively yesterday on the possibility that it might surge against the dollar.

Germany's foreign trade surplus increased last month but only because import growth fell more sharply than exports.

Confidence among America's small businesses improved last month, according to the results of a widely-followed survey, with many firms plotting higher prices.

Fresh sanctions handed down to North Korea by the United Nations have been swiftly denounced by Pyongyang, as it threatened action of its own against the US.

German industrial output retreated in June for the first time in 2017, weighed down by falling capital goods and .