Weekly Review
The FTSE 100 finished up 282.56 points on the week at 6,832.83.
Equity view
Department store operator Beales has reluctantly accepted a takeover offer from property entrepreneur Andrew Perloff.
Insurance company Aviva said it could cut 1,500 jobs following its £5.93bn planned takeover of Friends Life.
Forex and spread-betting provider IG Group posted a strong set of interim results, though the surprise actions of the Swiss National Bank last week caused a wave of client currency losses that led to a £30m hit, putting this year's final dividend at risk.
Full year results from William Hill jumped ahead of forecasts even though the bookmaker fell at a fourth-quarter hurdle as football and horse racing results favoured punters.
After a strong Christmas trading period saw sales increase at stable margins, Dixons Carphone has increased its guidance for full year profits.
Despite a 4% increase in group net producer revenue in the third quarter, SABMiller suffered more difficult trading conditions in China and North America that held back overall performance.
BHP Billiton said it has “moved quickly” in response to the recent collapse in crude prices and plans to reduce the number of US onshore oil rigs by 40% by the end of the financial year.
Shares in Afren plunged further after the oil and gas group warned that it was in discussions with its lenders and looking to slash costs and spending plans.
Royal Mail said it expects to meet its forecasts after a "busy festive period" with parcel numbers up 4% at 120m in December alone, though revenue growth was held back by ongoing competition across the industry.
Infrastructure group Balfour Beatty has slashed its expectations for 2014 UK construction profits by a further £70m, cancelled a proposed share buyback and cast doubts over its future dividend after a review of the business by advisers KPMG.
Dublin-based building materials group CRH has confirmed speculation that it could buy some of Lafarge and Holcim's assets ahead of their proposed merger.
Economic news
UK inflation is set to average 0% this year, thanks to the huge slide in oil prices, influential think tank EY Item Club has warned.
Business and government need to increase pay if a "lost generation" of "low-paid youth workers in working poverty" is to be avoided, said head of Living Wage at KPMG Mike Kelly.
The UK unemployment rate fell to 5.8% in the three months to November from 6% the previous period, better than the 5.9% forecast.
The Bank of England voted unanimously to keep policy unchanged, according to minutes of the central bank's last meeting, raising speculation that policymakers will not hike rates until at least early 2016.
David Miles, a member of the Monetary Policy Committee, said monetary policy does "not hold all the cards" when it comes to keep inflation on target.
Car production in the UK last year reached its highest level since 2007, as car plants produced 1.5m vehicles.
International events
Authorities in China acted to curb the use of margin trading by many of the country's largest brokerages in a bid to cool the market.
As part of a $60m settlement, the US Securities and Exchange Commission will suspend Standard & Poor's for a year from rating securities in the biggest piece of the commercial-mortgage bond market.
Satya Nadella, Microsoft's chief executive, said the firm will use its Windows 10, its new operating system, to regain customers.
Car-booking firm Uber has reportedly raised $1.6bn in convertible debt from Goldman Sachs Group.
eBay will cut over 2,400 positions, representing about 7% of its total workforce, the e-commerce firm said.
Denmark's central bank has slashed its main policy rate for a second time this week.
Abdalla El-Badri, the secretary general of OPEC, said it did not expect the price of oil to fall to $25 a barrel or lower.
The European Central Bank unveiled on Thursday that it would buy €60bn-worth of private and public securities each month until September 2016 in a bid to revive growth and lift the euro area out of deflation.
Britain's second-biggest mobile provider O2 is in talks to be purchased by Three mobile network owner Li Ka-shing for up to £10.25bn
GlaxoSmithKline’s Ebola vaccine has been shipped to Liberia for first large-scale trial.