Weekly review
The FTSE 100 finished the week down 60.29 points, or 0.81%, at 7,377.60.
Equity view
Trinity Mirror, the owner of the Daily Mirror newspaper, is in talks to buy the entire publishing assets of Richard Desmond's Northern & Shell business, which controls the Daily Express, Daily Star and OK! Magazine.
Amid one of the biggest data breaches in US history, it has emerged that three Equifax senior executives sold almost $1. 8m in shares in the days after the credit reporting agency discovered a hack which could have compromised the data of 143 million American customers.
Direct Line said on Friday that Penny James - currently chief risk officer and executive director at Prudential - will join the company as chief financial officer designate.
Distilling giant Diageo announced on Friday that it has entered into a non-discretionary agreement with Morgan Stanley to enable the company to buy back shares.
Go-Ahead Group posted results “in line with expectations” on Thursday, reporting bus operating profit of £90.7m, down slightly from £91.2m, and rail operating profit of £59.9m, sliding from £71.4m in the prior year.
Imperial Brands announced on Thursday that it has now agreed to sell 13. 275 million ordinary shares of 20 euro cents each in Compañía De Distribución Integral Logista Holdings on the Madrid Stock Exchange, raising gross proceeds of £230. 8m through the placing.
Rio Tinto announced increased coal reserve estimates to the Australian Securities Exchange overnight on Thursday, relating to Rio Tinto Coal Australia’s Kestrel underground longwall mine in Queensland, as compared to the previous estimate in the 2016 annual report.
Euromoney Institutional Investor has hired investment banks to look at a potential sale of its Hong Kong-based Global Markets Intelligence division after receiving "unsolicited interest" in recent weeks.
Acacia Mining has bought gold put options as part of measures to mitigate cash outflows as it put one of its underground mines on care and maintenance amid Tanzania's ongoing ban on exporting mineral concentrates.
Petrofac has been awarded a contract worth more than $700m by Sakhalin Energy Investment Company, it announced on Wednesday, for its onshore processing facility on Sakhalin Island.
Ahead of its annual shareholders meeting, Berkeley Group said trading conditions over the first four months of the new financial year had been in-line with management's expectations, but added that uncertainty around Brexit, stamp duty and mortgage interest deductibility continued to negatively impact the London market.
FTSE 250 retirement housebuilder McCarthy & Stone said on Wednesday that it saw a "strong" recovery in the second half of the year, with revenue and the order book up on the previous year despite uncertainty brought about by Brexit and the general election.
Infrastructure and support services company Stobart Group updated the market on its trading in the first half on Tuesday, reporting good progress in aviation as passenger numbers grew 22% year-on-year at Southend Airport.
Recycled packaging supplier DS Smith updated the market on its trading since 1 May on Tuesday, as investors gathered for the company’s annual general meeting, saying it had been an “encouraging” start to the financial year with trading in line with expectations.
Petrofac has won a €340m contract with gas behemoth Gazprom to help build onshore pipelines and a gas receiving terminal in Turkey that will be connected to Anapara on the far Russian coast.
Retailer Halfords Group reported like-for-like sales largely as expected for the first 20 weeks of the year, in the last results before chief executive Jill McDonald departs.
Low-cost airline Wizz Air reported a 24. 4% jump in passenger numbers in August as the load factor ticked higher.
Investors in software product group Micro Focus International were set to be told of the completion of the merger with HPE Software on Monday, as they mustered for the company’s annual general meeting.
Veterinary pharmaceutical business Dechra Pharmaceuticals posted a 45. 1% improvement in revenue for its year to 30 June on Monday at £359. 3m, or 28. 3% growth at constant exchange rates.
UK based natural resource firm, Jangada Mines said on Monday that in the eight weeks since its initial public offering it had seen significant progress across a number of streams at its Pedra Branca project in northeast Brazil.
Economic news
The Financial Conduct Authority’s decision to open a new premium category to accommodate a London listing for Saudi Aramco has drawn criticism from MPs, who have asked for an explanation of the decision.
UK manufacturing output is proving stronger than expected, official figures confirmed on Friday, as export and import prices for goods fell as the pound strengthened slightly.
UK house prices rose more than expected in August, according to the latest figures from mortgage lender Halifax.
Brexit secretary David Davis has refused to rule out the possibility of the UK contributing to the EU budget during its transition out of the bloc.
According to a report released on Wednesday by the UK Energy Research Centre, Britain could cut its domestic energy consumption in half with a more efficient use of power, saving residents roughly £7.5bn in energy costs along the way.
Tony Hall, the director-general of the BBC, unveiled plans on Wednesday of how the broadcaster intended to handle both the gender pay gap between its TV and radio presenters after a controversial summer.
UK services sector activity slumped to an 11-month low last month, with the worst hit areas being consumer-facing industries such as hotels, restaurants, cinemas and gyms.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn will order his MPs to vote against the government’s EU withdrawal bill, the party said on Tuesday.
Activity in the UK construction sector unexpectedly declined in August, to its lowest level in a year, according to data released on Monday.
London mayor Sadiq Khan requested Downing Street give London boroughs authority to raise council taxes on empty mansions in the capital's centre.
International events
At least 27 people have been killed after an earthquake hit Mexico’s south-western coast overnight.
Gary Cohn, Donald Trump’s key economic adviser, could be on the way out of the administration as the two men’s relationship begins to sour, Reuters reported on Friday.
The European Central Bank kept all its main policy rates at their current settings and provided no hint in its policy statement that changes might be on the horizon.
The world's largest oil firms are continuing to evacuate nonessential personnel as Hurricane Irma barrels towards Puerto Rico and the Gulf Coast.
German factory orders unexpectedly fell in July, held back by domestic orders, according to data released by Destatis on Wednesday.
Things may be looking up for one of the euro area's slowest growing economies, Italy, ahead of next year's elections, but not so for the public purse.
Kim Jong-un and his his Pyongyang regime is ‘begging for war’, the US ambassador to the United Nations said at an emergency meeting on Monday.
The European Court of Human Rights has reversed the decision of a Romanian court to side with an employer which used surveillance software to monitor an employee’s private messages.
Boeing hailed a ruling handed down by the World Trade Organisation in its favour while at the same time slamming what it said were “flagrant” breaches of existing law by archrival Airbus.
German chancellor Angela Merkel has promised that Turkey will never become a member of the European Union, during a debate ahead of elections in the country.