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The FTSE 100 ended the week 138.48 points higher, closing at 7,234.03 on Friday.

Equity view

Mining giant Rio Tinto on Friday cut annual iron ore shipment forecasts, citing labour shortages in Western Australia. The company said it now expected shipments from the Pilbara, its key production region, to be 320m - 325m tonnes for 2021, at the lower end of previous guidance for 325m - 340m tonnes.

Investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown reported an uptick in first-quarter assets under management on Friday but a dip in revenue as share dealing volumes declined following lockdown. In the three months to 30 September, AUM rose to £138bn from £106.9bn in the same period a year ago. However, revenues edged down 1% to £142.2m.

Private healthcare provider Mediclinic on Friday reported a rise in first-half revenue driven by a rise in patient activity across its three divisions. The company said revenue rose to £1.58bn in the six months to September 30, from £1.41bn a year ago. Core earnings margin recovered to 15.5%, up from 12.1%.

Shares of recently-floated Oxford Nanopore surged on Friday after the genome sequencing company lifted its revenue growth guidance for the current financial year for its core Life Science Research Tools (LSRT) business. In an update late on Thursday, the group said that following strong trading it now expects LSRT revenue growth of between 60% and 70% at constant currency, up from previous guidance of 30% to 40%.

Private property rental company Grainger reported a rebound in performance in the second half of its fiscal year, with lettings at 94% as Covid restrictions were lifted. The company, which has a 7,000-home portfolio, said it expected to hit 95% occupancy “shortly”, in a trading update for the 12 months to September 30. It also unveiled the purchase of a build-to-rent development scheme in London, on a forward funding basis for £141m.

Domino's Pizza reported a jump in third-quarter sales on Thursday as it announced plans to create 8,000 jobs. In an update for the 13 weeks to 26 September, the company said system sales rose 9.9% to £375.8m, or 8.8% on a like-for-like basis. Excluding the benefit of a lower VAT rate, underlying like-for-like system sales rose 6.4%.

Recruiter Hays posted a rise in first-quarter net fees on Thursday, highlighting good growth in all regions. Group net fees rose 41% on a like-for-like basis versus the prior year, which was significantly impacted by the Covid pandemic. On an actual basis, net fees were up 36%.

Qinetiq shares tumbled on Thursday after the defence technology company warned that technical and supply chain issues on a large complex programme could lead to a one-off write-down to its short-term guidance. In a trading update for the second quarter, Qinetiq said it was working closely with its customer and making progress, jointly with its supply chain, towards recovery of the programme and mitigating the risk to less than £15m.

House builder Barratt said strong demand for its homes had continued over the past three months with sales above pre-pandemic levels despite a reduction in government incentives. In a trading update covering July 1 - October 10, Barratt said net weekly private reservations averaged 281 down 2.3% year on year, but up 18.1% against a pre-pandemic comparative.

Pub company Marston's reported a rebound in sales during the fourth quarter over pre-Covid pandemic levels as lockdown restrictions eased over the year. Marston's said sales in the three months to October 2 had risen 2% across its managed and franchised pubs compared to 2019, before the pandemic struck and lockdowns were imposed.

Electric services company Centrica said on Wednesday that it had decided to postpone its capital markets event scheduled for 16 November. Chief executive Chris O'Shea stated that in the current "unprecedented commodity price environment", Centrica remained focused on "looking after" its residential and business customers, whilst also working to support customers of failed suppliers and drive the regulatory reforms, which it said were "urgently required" to make sure the situation never recurs.

Active management business Man Group said on Wednesday that funds under management had grown to a fresh record high in the three months ended 30 September thanks to strong net inflows throughout the period. Man Group said FUM had increased from $135.3bn on 30 July to $139.5bn at the end of its most recent trading quarter.

UK gambling firm Entain said third quarter revenue rose, with in-shop volumes improving as Covid lockdown measures were lifted. The company, currently the target of a $22bn takeover bid from US rival DraftKings , said net gaming revenue rose 4% in the three months to September 30, while revenue from online sports betting jumped 12%.

Asset manager Liontrust Asset Management said on Tuesday that both net inflows and assets under management and advice had grown in the six months ended 30 September. Liontrust stated net inflows for the six months ended 30 September were £2.1bn, up from £1.74bn in 2020, while assets under management and advice increased 15% year-on-year to £35.7bn.

Commercial real estate firm Derwent London said on Tuesday that rent collection rates had continued to strengthen in the September quarter. Derwent stated that it had received 96% of its September quarter day office rents, above the 93% figure seen in June and the 83% reported on 13 October 2020 for the previous September quarter.

Housebuilder Vistry said on Tuesday that chief executive officer Greg Fitzgerald will stay on beyond the end of 2022. At the time of the acquisition of Linden Homes and the Partnerships business from Galliford Try in January 2020, Fitzgerald had indicated that he would continue to serve as CEO only until the end of next year.

AstraZeneca said its antibody cocktail to combat Covid-19 had achieved a “statistically significant reduction” in the risk of developing the virus or death in a phase 3 trial. The drug, known as AZD7442, met the primary endpoint, reducing the risk of developing severe Covid-19 or death (from any cause) by 50% compared to placebo in outpatients who had been symptomatic for seven days or less, the company said on Monday.

Food and fragrance ingredient supplier Treatt said it expected annual revenue to rise around 14%, helping it to meet earnings guidance provided in May. The company on Monday forecast revenue for the year to September 30 of £124m, driven by categories focused on healthier living, adding that it expected profit before tax and exceptional items for the 2021 financial year to be in line with revised expectations.

Real estate investment trust company LXI REIT said on Monday that independent valuer Knight Frank had valued the group's property portfolio at £1.22bn. LXI said the new valuation, current as of 30 September, represented a 4.9% like-for-like increase over the six months since 31 March and a total increase of 29.7% over the period, including acquisitions and disposals.

Seeing Machines said it had signed an agreement with oil giant Shell to supply its driver distraction and fatigue technology. Shell’s truck fleet covers 500m kilometres a year globally and the ‘Guardian’ system will be installed where “fatigue and distracted driving are considered to be a safety risk”, Seeing Machines said on Monday.

Economic news

Charles Randell will step down as chair of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) next spring. The FCA said on Friday that Randell has decided to step down a year before his term expires.

One of the Bank of England’s policy setters has warned against raising interest rates in response to short-lived inflationary pressures, arguing it could be “self-defeating”. Supply chain disruptions along with surging energy prices have helped push inflation above the bank’s targeted 2%, with the consumer price index reaching 3.2% in August. The BoE expects inflation will continue rising, peaking at around 4% this year.

House prices continued to grow in September, a closely-watched industry survey showed on Thursday, but at a slower rate than previously seen. The latest RICS Residential Market Survey for September reported a net balance for house prices of 68%. That is down on August’s net balance of 73%, and notably lower than May’s peak of 82%. It was also below consensus, for 70%.

The UK economy grew a touch less than expected in August despite the easing of Covid measures, according to figures released on Wednesday by the Office for National Statistics. The economy grew 0.4% in August following a 0.1% contraction in July. This was a little weaker than consensus expectations for a 0.5% increase and leaves GDP 0.8% below its pre-pandemic level in February 2020.

UK government departments face deep budget cuts of more than £2bn even as Finance Minister Rishi-Sunak increases taxes to their highest peacetime level, a leading financial think tank said on Tuesday. Sunak’s manifesto-breaking tax raid will lift the burden on Britons already struggling with low wages, benefit cuts and price rises, to more than 42% of national income - more than 2% above pre-pandemic spending levels and its highest level in "normal times'' since 1985, the Institute for Fiscal Studies said.

UK grocery sales were curtailed by the fuel crisis last month, industry data showed, while inflationary pressures continued to mount. According to research by consultancy Kantar, take-home grocery sales fell by 1.2% in the 12 weeks to 3 October, with the average household making 15.5 visits to supermarkets in the past four weeks. That is the lowest monthly figure since February, when the country was in lockdown.

Container shipping company Maersk has been forced to divert its large vessels away from the UK as a result of the country's main port being packed full of containers. Maersk began rerouting huge ships from Felixstowe, which sees roughly 36% of Britain's container freight, and has opted to discharge UK-bound cargo in Europe before loading onto smaller vessels.

UK job vacancies hit a 20-year high between July and September, while the unemployment rate fell in the three months to August as the jobs market continues to recover. According to figures released on Tuesday by the Office for National Statistics, job vacancies rose by 318,000 from pre-pandemic January to March 2020 levels to 1.1 million, with accommodation and food services seeing a near-50,000 jump.

Retail sales eased in September, data showed on Tuesday, as the UK’s post-pandemic recovery continued to lose momentum. In the five weeks to 2 October 2021, sales decreased 0.6% on a like-for-like basis against September 2020, when they had jumped 6.1%, according to the latest BRC-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor.

The head of the Bank of England called for further investment in infrastructure in the UK and said the Bank was going to have a very "challenging job" on its hands when it came to dealing with inflation. In an interview with the Yorkshire Post, Andrew Bailey said that investment in the UK had been "fairly weak" for some time now and that supporting digital, transport and climate infrastructure would help the economy grow.

International events

Americans´ confidence in the economy and the political landscape remained near its post-pandemic lows, in part due to downbeat assessments of government economic policies, the results of a closely-followed survey showed. Delta, supply chain disruptions and reduced labour force participation all weighed on consumer sentiment, according to University of Michigan survey director Richard Curtin.

Americans unexpectedly resumed splashing out on goods and services last month. According to the Department of Commerce, in seasonally adjusted terms, US retail sales volumes jumped at a month-on-month pace of 0.7% to reach $625.45bn.

People's Bank of China looked to assuage concerns in financial markets around stricken real estate giant China Evergrande Group. At a press briefing on Friday, PBoC official, Zou Lan, said the developer's problems were "controllable", Bloomberg reported.

Wholesale inflation in the US rose a bit less quickly than anticipated last month, despite big jumps for energy and food prices. According to the US Department of Labor, so-called final demand prices rose at a month-on-month pace of 0.5% in September (consensus: 0.6%).

The number of Americans filing for unemployment claims undershot forecasts again last week, retreating to their lowest level since near the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the US Department of Labor, in seasonally adjusted terms the number of people who filed for initial unemployment claims dropped by 36,000 over the week ending on 9 October to reach 293,000.

A group of leading economic think tanks have cut their forecasts for German growth this year, as supply chain disruptions weigh heavily on the manufacturing sector. Publishing their latest joint forecast, the five German institutions predicted GDP would rise by 2.4% in 2021, compared to an earlier forecast for growth of 3.7%. However, they upgraded their forecast for 2022 to 4.8% from 3.9% previously.

Factory gate inflation soared in China last month, official data showed on Thursday, fuelled by record commodity prices. However, softening demand meant the consumer price index came in below forecasts.

Headline inflation in the US rose at a faster-than-expected pace last month, official data showed on Wednesday, pushed higher by climbing food and energy prices. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the consumer price index increased 0.4% in September on a seasonally-adjusted basis, after rising 0.3% in August. The annual rate was 5.4% before seasonal adjustments.

Eurozone industrial production fell in August, official data showed on Wednesday, as supply constraints weighed heavily. According to Eurostat, the European Union’s statistical office, seasonally-adjusted industrial production was down 1.6% in August, and off 1.5% across the wider bloc. In July, industrial production rose by a downwardly-revised 1.4% and by 1.2% in the Eurozone and EU respectively.

The International Monetary Fund downgraded its forecasts for global growth on Tuesday as it cautioned that supply chain issues were denting growth. In its World Economic Outlook, the IMF cut the global GDP growth forecast for this year by 0.1 percentage points from its July estimate to 5.9%. It maintained the growth forecast for next year at 4.9%.