Market Pulse
Director dealings: Beazley directors cash in £5.4m of shares
Multiple directors over at insurance firm Beazley disposed of shares on Friday, just two days after the London-based company had its 'overweight' rating reaffirmed by analysts at Numis.
London close: Stocks end higher, tracking early gains on Wall Street
London stocks finished near their best level of the session on Friday, boosted by better-than-expected economic data in the States and as the pound slipped back below $1. 41, albeit following disappointing retail sales data at home.
Acacia Mining in talks with Chinese investors over possible asset sale
Acacia Mining has begun talks about potentially selling a stake in some or all of its Tanzanian gold mining operations.
Broker tips: Sky, WPP, Standard Life Aberdeen
Bernstein upgraded Standard Life Aberdeen to 'outperform' from 'market perform' following the selloff in the previous session and on the back of year-to-date weakness in the stock, but cut its price target to 430p from 460p.
Week ahead: UK wages, Fed minutes, bank results
Wednesday will be the big day next week, with UK labour market data, initial Eurozone purchasing managers' surveys and Federal Reserve minutes, with bank results the key theme on the London corporate calendar.
Market buzz: FTSE adds 200 points over week, dollar facing 'volatile weeks'
1635: The FTSE 100 closed 59. 89 points or 0. 83% higher at 7,294. 70 on Friday, adding 202. 5 or 2. 9% over the week. The pound is off it's lows from earlier in the afternoon, but still down 0. 3% against the dollar at 1. 4055 but up 0. 2% on the euro at 1. 1294.
US open: Stocks start slightly higher, Nasdaq set for best week since 2011
Wall Street kicked-off the Friday session in good form, with investors seemingly setting aside their concerns about rising inflation and higher interest rates and stocks on track to extend their win streak into a sixth day.
Kraft Heinz falls short on fourth quarter sales targets as US demand dwindles
Ketchup maker Kraft Heinz posted declining organic sales in its fourth-quarter report card on Friday, saying demand for its products had weakened across the US.
Bernstein upgrades Standard Life Aberdeen, says selloff is 'overreaction'
Bernstein upgraded Standard Life Aberdeen to 'outperform' from 'market perform' following the selloff in the previous session and on the back of year-to-date weakness in the stock, but cut its price target to 430p from 460p.
Tesco shuts Cardiff call centre, cutting 1,100 jobs
Tesco will close its Cardiff call centre will close on Friday with the loss of 1,100 jobs despite the efforts of unions to reverse the decision.
US consumer sentiment hits second-highest level since 2004
US consumer sentiment rose to its second-highest level since 2004 in February despite lower and much more volatile stock prices, according to a reading from the University of Michigan.
Sunrise makes good progress at CS Project
Sunrise Resources updated the market on results from the phase two drill programme at its CS Pozzolan-Perlite Project in Nevada on Friday, reporting that CS Project natural pozzolans were being evaluated as a ‘green’ replacement for Portland cement in cement mixes and concrete mixes.
Angling Direct makes progress as it expands online
Fishing tackle retailer Angling Direct issued a pre-close trading update on Friday, ahead of the publication of its financial results for the 12 months ended 31 January.
FTSE 100 movers: Segro rallies on results; Old Mutual gives back gains
London's FTSE 100 was up 0. 6% to 7,274. 91 in afternoon trade on Friday as the pound lost ground against the dollar after disappointing UK retail sales data.
WPP hits six-month high on renewed TV ad optimism, Goldman tips ITV
WPP shares have rallied to a six-month high amid a recent improvement in the ad market, capped off by a bullish view given by analysts at Goldman Sachs and Numis on Friday.
Red Leopard AIM listing about to be cancelled
Red Leopard reported progress on its acquisition of a Colombian coal mining project on Friday, but at the same time warned shareholders that its AIM listing was about to be cancelled as the transaction was taking significantly longer than initially anticipated.
Beowulf Mining begins drilling at Aitolampi project
Mineral exploration and development company Beowulf Mining announced on Friday that drilling at its Aitolampi graphite project - part of its 100%-owned exploration permit Pitkäjärvi 1 - was now underway.
Elektron Technology completes sale of Queensgate Nano
Elektron Technology announced the completion of the sale of the wholly-owned trade and assets of Queensgate Nano on Friday, to Prior Scientific Instruments, for an initial cash consideration of £0. 8m.
US housing starts surge past expectations in January
US housing starts surged past expectations last month, according to data released by the Commerce Department.
Steve Bannon refuses to answer questions in Russia inquiry
Steve Bannon, former strategy chief of President Donald Trump, has been questioned several times this week as part of the investigation into possible Russian intervention in the 2016 elections.