Weekly review
The FTSE 100 finished the week down 320.8 points at 6,995.91.
Equity view
Patisserie Holdings raised £15m from investors on Friday and agreed to a £20m emergency loan from chairman Luke Johnson as it battles to stay afloat after discovering a multimillion pound black hole in its accounts.
Royal Bank of Scotland on Friday paid its first dividend since it almost went under in the 2008 financial crisis.
Tobacco giants Imperial Brands and British American Tobacco were sent lower on Friday by worries about tougher regulations, with the US Food & Drug Administration sending letters to e-cigarette makers.
Competition authorities launched an investigation into Rentokil Initial's completed acquisition of Mitie's pest control business.
Hedge fund manager Man Group reported positive net inflows in the third quarter despite being hit by a $2.2bn client redemption.
Ashmore recorded net inflows of $1.9bn in the past quarter as clients looked to take advantage of price volatility across emerging markets, which management expects to continue in coming months.
The UK’s competition regulator on Thursday said it was starting a probe into a revenue sharing deal on trans-Atlantic routes between British Airways, Iberia, Finnair and American Airlines.
Paper and packaging group Mondi said third quarter underlying earnings rose 30% to €466m (£407m) year-on-year, boosted by higher average selling prices across fibre packaging and uncoated fine paper, cost containment and recent acquisitions.
Hargreaves Lansdown reported an uncertain market environment and weak investor sentiment in the three months since the start of July, with assets under administration growing 2.7%.
Homewares retailer Dunelm said revenues had picked up to 4.2% on a like-for-like basis in the first quarter of its financial year, with margins improved to boot.
Countryside Properties reiterated its medium-term guidance on Thursday as it posted a jump in total completions and said demand for its homes remains strong.
Johnston Press, the publisher of the i and Scotsman newspapers and roughly 200 other local titles, put itself up for sale on Tuesday.
PageGroup expects its full year operating profit to be marginally ahead of consensus after the recruiter notched its highest quarterly growth rate in seven years.
The merger of SSE and Innogy's Npower's retail operations was cleared by the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
British American Tobacco's chief marketing officer Andrew Gray has quit the cigarette maker after a 32-year career, just two weeks after he was overlooked for the top job.
Polymetal International on Wednesday upgraded the mineral resource estimate at its Russian Prognoz silver deposit after drilling results “exceeded expectations”.
Aviva chief executive Mark Wilson stepped down on Tuesday in a surprise departure as the company said it was time for "new leadership.
WPP lost its long-held and largest contract, as Ford Motor Company's lead creative agency, which has gone to its fierce rival Omnicom's BBDO agency.
Comcast became the majority owner of Sky on Tuesday after buying up all the shares held by 21st Century Fox.
Greggs posted a rise in third-quarter like-for-like sales on Tuesday as new products proved popular with customers, and the FTSE 250 baker backed its expectations for the full year.
Schroders said on Monday that is in discussions with Lloyds Banking Group about working together "in parts of the wealth sector", rumoured to include a new joint venture.
Fashion retailer French Connection confirmed on Monday that it is considering putting itself up for sale.
Lancashire Holdings said it expected to report third quarter net losses after hits to its marine portfolio and exposure to natural disasters including US hurricane Florence, and Asian typhoons Jebi, Mangkhut and Trami.
Legal & General has bought out the £2.4bn Nortel Networks UK pension plan, taking its pensions transactions to a record £8.4bn for the year for its pension risk transfer business.
Economic news
Top US central bank official, Charles Evans, said on Friday that monetary policy needed to be raised "at least" to 'neutral'.
Andrew Brunson, the American pastor whose detainment in Turkey led to economic sanctions being imposed by the US, was freed on time served on Friday.
Prime Minister Theresa May will meet ministers on Thursday afternoon to discuss Brexit negotiations with the EU as the government faces tensions from the Democratic Unionist Party.
The UK could move to a 1970s-style three day week to conserve energy in the event of a worst-case Brexit scenario, the Office for Budget Responsibility warned on Thursday.
Low demand from property buyers has been hit by uncertainty about Brexit and interest rates, leading to house price values falling for the second successive month, according to the the latest RICS survey.
Chief EU negotiator Michel Barnier said in a speech addressing the European Parliament of Enterprises on Wednesday that May’s proposal to keep the UK in the single market for goods would give it a “huge competitive edge” over the EU.
Between 30 and 40 Labour MP’s are considering backing Theresa May in an expected vote in parliament if she secures a Brexit deal with the European Union.
Arlene Foster has reiterated her insistence there can be no trade barriers between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK as MPs ready themselves for the next round of Brexit talks.
The Competition and Markets Authority has announced plans to investigate the audit sector amid growing concerns about the dominance of the 'big four' - KPMG, Deloitte, EY and PwC - particularly after the collapse of construction group Carillion sparked criticism of its auditors.
The Bank of England has called on the European Union to take urgent action or risk massive disruption to the European financial services sector post Brexit.
The EU is set to table a proposal that would involve checking goods destined for Ireland close to their source, rather than at ports, in a bid to try and avoid a hard border in Ireland and down the Irish sea.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he would welcome the UK to the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal (TPP) “with open arms” after Brexit.
Hiring in the UK has hit its lowest level for 25 years as Brexit becomes the biggest threat to UK business “by far”, ahead of trade wars, weak UK demand and geopolitics, two surveys revealed on Monday.
A cautious approach from Britain's consumers looks set to continue into the Christmas period, Barclaycard warned on Tuesday.
International events
Consumer sentiment in the US deteriorated in October, according to a preliminary reading from the University of Michigan.
JPMorgan Chase kicked off third-quarter earnings season in fine style, with America's largest bank beating Wall Street forecasts for both revenues and earnings.
Wells Fargo posted a 32% jump in third-quarter profit on Friday, helped in part by lower expenses.
The cost of living in the States slowed a tad more quickly than expected last month on the back of a large drop in the price of second hand vehicles and energy.
US President Donald Trump has again expressed unhappiness with the Federal Reserve's tightening of monetary policy which has bolstered the dollar and put pressure on Wall Street stocks.
Producers from the Organisation of Petroleum and Exporting Countries are unlikely to increase output in the short-term, after the cartel’s secretary-general said the market was already well supplied.
Economists were glum on the outlook for the Italian economy despite an unexpected bounce in industrial output for the month of August.
The 2018 selloff in US government bonds led to the yield on a 10-year note rising to a new seven-year high of 3.25% on Tuesday, increasing increased anxiety among stock market investors.
The International Monetary Fund has cut its world growth projections for 2018 and 2019 as trade tensions between the US and China start to take a bite out of the global economy.