Weekly review

The FTSE 100 finished the week up 75.47 points to 7,142.83.

Equity view

John Laing Infrastructure Fund has completed the acquisition of a 6% stake in a high-speed rail project, its first investment in rail rolling stock, from John Laing Investments, for £42. 4m.

Petra Diamonds published its payments to governments report for the year to 30 June on Thursday, with a total of $8. 9m paid to governments under the reporting regulations.

Oil giant BP has signed a sale and purchase agreement for liquefied natural gas with Thailand’s PTT, a petroleum and petrochemical company, for an undisclosed fee.

BP has also agreed to buy the Australian fuels business of Woolworths Ltd for AUD1. 79bn.

Discount chain Sports Direct on Wednesday said it was selling its Dunlop business to Sumitomo Rubber Industries for $137. 5m in cash as part of its strategy to move upmarket.

Riverstone Energy said it had invested $93m into its portfolio company Centennial Resource Development (CDEV) as part of a deal to buy independent oil and gas firm Silverback Exploration.

Listed infrastructure investment company International Public Partnerships announced on Wednesday that it has acquired a further 3. 33% interest in the Gold Coast Light Rail Project from Aveng Group.

Online fashion retailer Boohoo.com has entered into an asset purchase agreement to buy certain intellectual property assets from retailer Nasty Gal Inc – which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US in November – for $20m.

FTSE 250 housebuilder Bovis Homes warned that volume delivery for the year is expected to be lower than anticipated and that there will be a “modest” reduction in the operating margin.

Equity view

UK business morale reached an 18-month high in the fourth quarter but the uncertain outlook on Brexit meant companies were reluctant to increase investment spending, according to a survey on Thursday.

UK house prices rose more than expected in December, according to the latest figures from mortgage lender Nationwide. Annual house price growth came in at 4.5%, up from 4.4% in November and beating expectations of 3.8% growth.

Loans for house purchases in the UK fell 9% in November from the same month a year ago to 40,659 approvals, according to the British Bankers’ Association on Wednesday.

International events

The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell a touch less than expected last week, according to data released by the Labor Department. US initial jobless claims declined by 10,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level to 265,000. Economists had been expecting a drop to 264,000.

The US trade deficit widened more than expected in November, advance trade goods data showed on Thursday. The deficit grew to $65.3bn in November from a downwardly revised $61.9bn in October, missing expectations of $61.5bn.

US pending home sales unexpectedly declined in November to their lowest level in nearly a year as the upswing in mortgage rates and not enough inventory dispirited some would-be buyers, according to data from the National Association of Realtors.

US wholesale inventories rose 0.9% in November, beating forecasts for a 0.2% increase, data showed.