Weekly review

The FTSE 100 finished the week 45.34 points higher at 6,775.77.

Equity view

Nationwide building society, recorded the “best ever” net mortgage lending in the first half, increasing 46% to £6bn.

SSE, one of the UK’s ‘big six’ energy firms, confirmed on Friday that it will freeze standard household energy prices this winter, capping them at the current level until at least April next year.

Long haul airline Emirates said it was unhappy with performance shortfalls afflicting $6. 1bn's worth of Rolls-Royce engines ordered to power a batch of 50 Airbus Group SE A380 superjumbos, Bloomberg reported.

UK supermarket giant Tesco has warned suppliers not to inflate prices to compensate for the slump in sterling so they can report healthier profits.

Luxury retailer Jimmy Choo reported revenue growth for the second half on Friday and said it was on track to deliver full-year underlying profits in line with expectations.

Randgold Resources and Newcrest have signed an agreement to establish a joint venture for the exploration, development and mining of gold and other mineral resources in the south-east of Côte d'Ivoire.

Wind farm infrastructure fund Greencoat UK Wind (UKW) said it had raised £147m through the issue of 133. 6m new ordinary shares at 110p each.

Engineering distribution firm Electrocomponents reported a healthy 44% jump in first half pre-tax headline profits to £55. 1m.

EnQuest confirmed the success of its placing and open offer on Thursday, raising a fresh £82m in the process.

Premier Oil said it is in the final stages of negotiations with its banks and private bondholders on its refinancing and it is on track to meet full-year production guidance.

Virgin Money shares slumped on Thursday after US private equity firm WL Ross & Co sold its entire stake in the company.

Majestic Wine reported a pre-tax loss for the six months to 26 September, mainly on the back of acquisition costs, but reinstated its dividend.

Royal Mail’s half year revenue increased slightly thanks to its European business, while the FTSE 100 company gears up for the all-important Christmas period by upping its cost saving targets.

Further overseas expansion helped Ted Baker step up sales growth in the third quarter but the fashion retailer stressed that the Christmas period would determine whether the year will be a success.

Building materials group CRH reported a 6% rise in cumulative sales in the first nine months of the year and said it continues to expect earnings for the year to be in excess of €3bn.

Pre-tax first half profits at specialist chemicals company Johnson Matthey fell 36% to £210m on revenues of £5. 6bn, down 2%.

Chairman of UK Financial investments (UKFI), the agency that manages Britain's stakes in bailed out banks, James Leigh-Pemberton said that the Royal Bank of Scotland’s potential fine from the US Department of Justice is hindering the government’s share sale plans, according to a report by Reuters.

Economic news

The Federal Reserve needs to remain "forward-looking" when setting policy and to be mindful of the risks that might be inherent in keeping interest rates low beyond their 'past due' date, the head of the US central bank said.

UK retail sales in October rose by the most in 14 years, official figures released on Thursday showed, as cooler weather helped drive winter clothing sales and grocers enjoyed a thrilling Halloween.

The final opinion polls in Italy ahead of next month's crucial referendum on constitutional changes do not bode well for prime minister Matteo Renzi, with all major surveys pointing towards defeat for the proposals.

Donald Trump’s victory in the US elections has cast a shadow of uncertainty over future US policy and other sovereigns, according to a report by Fitch Ratings on Thursday.

The financial watchdog is planning a tougher clampdown on UK asset management companies as it feels the sector has enjoyed big profits for many year by not competing very hard on prices and fees, though analysts said the industry will breathe a sigh of relief at the lack of bite from the report.

Monetary policy needs to and will remain accomodative, the president of the European Central Bank said, while calling for a halt to ever-higher capital requirements for banks and on other policymakers to do their bit in fostering a sustainable recovery.

The president of the St.Louis Fed said he was leaning towards a rate hike when monetary policymakers next met, in December, and welcomed the rise in bond yields and inflation expectations since Donald Trump´s election victory.

One of the timeliest measures of the health of the US jobs market surprisingly tanked to a 43-year low last week, according to data published by the Labor Department on Thursday.

Financial markets' projections for the likelihood of an interest rate hike in December were likely correct, barring any unexpected developments, a top US central bank official said.

Productivity growth is likely to weaken while the economy adjusts to leaving the European Union, a Bank of England committee member said on Tuesday.

US retail sales volumes grew by 0.8% month-on-month in October to reach $465. 9bn and were 4.3% higher versus a year ago, according to the Department of Commerce, smashing economists´ forecasts.

International events

US investment bank JPMorgan Chase is set to fork out $264m to settle a bribery probe based on its China operations, after it was found to have given jobs to family members of officials in the country to gain business.

German car-maker Volkswagen has reached an agreement with employees that will see 23,000 jobs cut initially, a figure which could rise to 30,000, representing 5% of its global workforce.

Apple is considering moving production of its flagship iPhone model of smartphones to the United States, according to a report from the Nikkei Asian Review.

Profits at Wal-Mart Stores fell 8. 2% compared with the same quarter last year as the company invests heavily in boosting its e-commerce operations to compete with the likes of Amazon.

Analysts at Goldman Sachs have encouraged investors to buy Microsoft on the strength of its cloud software business, which the investment bank says will boost its earnings in years to come.

US industrial supplier General Electric has agreed to pay $915m for software company ServiceMax, which was recently published as part of Forbes' list of next billion dollar startups.