Weekly review

The FTSE 100 ended the week down 13.57 points to 6,899.33 points.

Equity view

Royal Bank of Scotland Group announced its proposals to regroup its businesses and separate its essential banking services from investment banking, in order to comply with UK ring-fencing legislation, on Friday.

RBS on Wednesday agreed to pay $1.1bn (£846) to settle two legal claims that it allegedly miss-sold mortgage securities in the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis.

Entertainment One reported that trading had met management´s expectations at the interim stage and that full-year financial performance would meet its own forecasts.

IG Group has agreed to buy global news and research portal DailyFX and its associated assets from FXCM Inc. for a total consideration of $40m.

Capita warned that full year profits will be some way short of current forecasts after its third quarter was hit by a slowdown in some areas, one off costs and recent hesitation among clients.

Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) said full year results are anticipated to be in line with current market expectations as it plans to make deeper staff cuts.

Babcock International has seen a slower performance in the first half but still expects to grow revenues 6% in the full year, broker Shore Capital revealed as it reiterated a 'buy' recommendation on the engineering services outsourcer.

FTSE 100 tobacco maker Imperial Brands said it was completing its financial year on track with expectations, helped by growth from its huge US acquisition.

Design, engineering and project management consulting company WS Atkins updated the market on its trading on Thursday, ahead of its half-year results for the six months to 30 September, which will be announced on 17 November.

Imagination Technologies said trading in the first quarter continues to be in line with the board’s expectations and announced an agreement to sell its Pure digital radio business to Austria’s AVenture AT for £2. 6m in cash as it looks to reduce debt.

First quarter trading at PZ Cussons was "robust" and the washing, bathing and beauty group was bullish that its bulging pipeline of new products will allow it to weather challenging trading conditions it is facing in most markets.

Trading at TUI was in-line with the company´s expectations, the travel operator said in a pre-close trading update.

Motorist support organisation AA posted its interim results for the six months to 31 July on Wednesday, with trading revenue up 2% to £467m.

Smiths Group posted a drop in profits for the year to the end of July as its John Crane division suffered amid tough conditions in the global energy markets, but the results were still better than expected.

Sainsbury's blamed industry-wide falling food prices for a decline in like-for-like sales in the second quarter, masking growth in transactions and volumes in the period.

Men’s tailoring retailer Moss Bros reported a jump in profit in the six months to the end of July and “encouraging” trading in the eight weeks to 24 September as the company's revamp bears fruit.

Shares in UK Mail Group surged on Wednesday after Deutsche Post agreed to buy the integrated mail and parcel operator for 440p per share, valuing the company at £242. 7m.

Boohoo, the UK based online retailer, has had a successful first half with its sales expanding more than expected.

Close Brothers posted its preliminary results for the year to 31 July on Tuesday, with adjusted operating profit up 4% to £233. 6m, and adjusted basic earnings per share up 7% to 128. 4p.

Currency tailwinds boosted Wolseley's full-year revenues as the plumbers´ merchant announced the result of the strategic review for its UK operations.

Sales from soft drinks maker AG Barr lost some of their fizz in the first half of the year amid continuing challenging conditions, but cash flowed strongly and management announced a 10% staff reduction as part of new restructuring plans.

Card Factory announced a special dividend on Tuesday as it reported a rise in revenue and profit for the six months to the end of July.

After a strong third quarter, Legal & General said its retirement arm was on track to double new business sales in the full year, with customer demand for bulk annuities and lifetime mortgages seemingly unaffected by the introduction of Solvency II regulation, Brexit uncertainty or lower interest rates.

Carnival saw net revenue yields grow near the top end of the company's guidance for the third quarter of its fiscal year, as management boosted its full-year guidance for earnings per share and sounded an optimistic note on its bookings for the next fiscal year.

Aldi promised on Monday to invest £300m in its British stores, as it rides the wave of its record £7. 7bn sales in 2015 - a 12% increase.

Economic news

Gross domestic product data released by the Office for National Statistics on Friday showed the UK economy grew a little more than initially estimated in the second quarter.

UK house prices growth eased in September amid worries about the impact of Brexit on the market, Nationwide data revealed.

Consumer confidence in the UK recovered sharply in September, picking back up to the levels seen before the referendum vote, according to Gfk.

As its data showed the UK housing market cooled in August with a 20-month low in mortgage approvals, the Bank of England announced new curbs on buy-to-let borrowing.

Former chancellor of exchequer George Osborne has said in an interview with Bloomberg that the UK’s current monetary policy has benefited the rich and made the poor worse off.

Retail sales on the UK High Street registered an unexpected fall in September but were expected to recover, according to the results of widely-followed survey by CBI.

Numbers of mortgages loans approved in the UK dropped off for the third consecutive month in August, according to data from BBA on Monday.

More than 75% of British business leaders have said they are pondering moving their businesses overseas because of the EU referendum, a survey by KPMG has found.

International events

US data from the Commerce Department showed personal income rose 0.2% in August, as expected by analysts. Personal spending was flat, compared to forecasts for a 0.1% increase.

Real personal spending dropped 0.1% in August, worse than forecasts for zero growth and driven largely by a decline in spending on durable goods.

The core US PCE deflator increased 1.0% year-on-year in August, up from 0.8% in July. Excluding food and energy, core prices rose by an annualised 1.7% in August, compared to 1.6% in July.

The final reading of the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index showed a rise in September to a level of 91.2, up from 89.8 in August.

Japan saw its sixth consecutive month of falling core consumer prices in the year to August, which poses a challenge for the Bank of Japan’s relaunched stimulus campaign.

Inflation in the eurozone doubled in September to 0. 4%, in line with expectations, as the impact of weaker energy prices began to fade, according to a flash estimate from Eurostat.

The eurozone unemployment rate was steady compared to the previous month at 10. 1% in August, according to the latest figures from Eurostat.

China´s manufacturing sector growth edged higher in September, amid stable new business from abroad, Caixin revealed.

Eurozone economic sentiment rose more than expected in September, driven by improvement in the bloc’s biggest economies.

The US economy accelerated slightly over the three months to June, boosted by a big jump in consumption and with the other details of the report painting a more balanced picture of activity during the period than initially thought.

In a surprise move, the Organisation for Petroleum Exporting Countries's members reached an agreement - for the first time in eight years - to cut output.

The World Trade Organisation cut its forecast for global trade growth to 1.7% from its April estimate of 2.8%, which would mark the slowest pace of trade since the 2008 financial crisis.

Mario Draghi has called on European governments to stimulate growth in the region, saying that the European Central Bank is not capable of shouldering the burden of recovery on its own.