Weekly review
The FTSE 100 finished the week 134.67 points higher at 7,056.61.
Equity view
GKN shareholders have accepted turnaround specialist Melrose Industries' £8. 1bn bid for the engineer, ending a two-and-a-half month saga that has involved intervention from the government and countless tit-for-tat exchanges between the two companies.
Private healthcare services group Mediclinic announced on Thursday that Ronnie van der Merwe will be installed as chief executive and an executive director from 1 June.
Barclays has settled its long-running case with America's Department of Justice over its alleged conduct involving mortgage-backed securities in the run-up to the Great Financial Crisis ahead of schedule.
NEX Group directors have agreed to a takeover by CME Group for 1,000p per share in cash and shares of the Chicago exchanges giant, a bid that analysts suggested could be big enough to deter any gatecrashing.
QinetiQ said it agreed an interim pricing deal with the Ministry of Defence for its biggest contract while the two sides negotiate how much the company will charge to manage 15 sites.
Gas and electricity supplier SSE upped its guidance for adjusted earnings per share on Thursday.
Shire has gained approval from the EU and Canada for accelerated assessments of its lanadelumab treatment for hereditary angioedema (HAE).
Conviviality Plc, the owner of the Bargain Booze and Wine Rack chains, said it was talking to its lenders and advisors about other funding options, including a potential sale of all or parts the business after failing to scrape together a £125m round of emergency cash.
Premier Oil has been awarded Block 30 in the Sureste Basin and Blocks 11 and 13 in the Burgos Basin, in Mexico's Round 3.1 held in Mexico City on 27 March, it announced on Wednesday.
Go-Ahead Group announced on Wednesday that it and the trustee of its pension plan have agreed to change the reference inflation index for the purpose of annual increases to the majority of pensions payable by the plan.
Food packing business Hilton Food posted a 13% jump in full-year profit on Wednesday as volumes increased, in part thanks to recent acquisitions and joint ventures.
The Financial Conduct Authority is examining whether Aviva’s scrapped plan to buy back preference shares complied with rules on market abuse.
Video games retailer Game Digital posted a 25.5% decline in pre-tax profits across its first half of trading as as a result of greater investment into its expanded e-sports offering.
The Financial Conduct Authority has notified internet of things group Telit Communications that it has kicked-off an investigation into the firm with regard to its timeliness when announcing certain matters, including its interim results published on 7 August 2017.
European and UK financial regulators have confirmed new restrictions on brokers, including IG Group, CMC Markets and Plus500, from marketing, distribution or selling binary options and spot forex trading and financial spread bets.
Ferguson confirmed pretty much all the news shareholders were hoping to hear on Tuesday, pledging to pay a $1bn special dividend from the sale of its Nordic business and reassuring that trading in North America remains strong.
United Utilities said it was trading in line with management expectations for the year to the end of March.
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) on Tuesdsay said it had agreed to buy Novartis' 36.5% stake in their Consumer Healthcare Joint Venture for $13bn (£9.2bn).
Top-line data from Verona Pharma's phase 2b clinical study of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease treatment showed a large and sustained improvement in lung function, showing the drug holds potential to be a new complementary treatment.
Car seller Inchcape on Monday said it had bought Suzuki-focused Central American dealer Grupo Rudelman for $284m (£201m), on a cash-free and debt-free basis.
Walgreens Boots beat the Street's forecasts for its second-quarter earnings and sales, with the US-listed owner of chemist Boots raising its full year guidance for 2018 in the same go.
Economic news
The Bank of England has warned that lenders have loosened standards on risky mortgages and that it is considering strengthening banks' capital buffers to dampen risk appetite.
UK gross domestic product grew 0.4% in the fourth quarter of 2017 compared to the third, the Office for National Statistics said in its final reading on the measure, in line with its second estimate a month ago.
House price growth in Britain slowed unexpectedly in March, according to the latest survey from mortgage lender Nationwide. Prices were up 2.1% on the year, slowing down from a 2.2% increase in February and below the 2.6% gain expected by economists.
British consumers are feeling slightly more confident about personal finances and the general economic situation as recent improvements in wage growth and inflation boost spirits.
The Bank of England has said overseas financial firms operating in the UK should assume they can carry on as normal during the proposed transition period after Britain leaves the EU.
Theresa May has said that the expulsion of Russian diplomats from almost two dozen countries was not done out of solidarity with the UK, but as an acknowledgement by foreign capitals of the serious threat posed by Russia’s behaviour. The Prime Minister also said that further sanctions were under discussion.
International events
Donald Trump has expressed optimism that North Korea will 'denuclearise' the peninsula as it emerged that leader Kim Jong-Un visited Beijing ahead of his summit with the US president.
The looming prospect of a trade war between the United States and China could spark a new economic crisis according to Nobel Prize winning economist Robert Shiller.
US Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Sunday that the US was having "very productive conversations" with China, noting that he was hopeful the White House would be able to reach an agreement with Beijing that would negate Donald Trump's need to impose tariffs on the estimated $50bn-worth of goods from the nation.
Renault shares revved up on Thursday fuelled by reports the company is in merger negotiations with Japan's Nissan.
Amazon stock traded sharply lower on Wednesday after Axios reported that Trump wants to "go after" the online giant, with one source describing the US president as "obsessed".
Facebook has announced on Wednesday it will give users more control over their privacy settings in response to the data theft scandal which allegedly saw 50m users' personal used to influence the 2016 US elections.
Swedish clothing retailer Hennes & Mauritz reported that 2018 started just as badly as 2017 finished.
Ahead of its flotation next Tuesday, music streaming company Spotify said it is trying to tackle the 2m users that have been discovered to be receiving a premium ad-free service for free.
GKN has received an increased cash offer for its Driveline business from US-based Dana, while also being forced to retract directors' statements quoted in Sunday newspapers about the hostile takeover bid from Melrose Industries.
Smurfit Kappa said it had rejected an increased offer from International Paper Company (IPC) which valued it at €37.54, saying it “fundamentally undervalues the group”.
US personal income and spending advanced a tad more quickly than expected last month, alongside a modest increase in price pressures.
The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell to its lowest level since January 1973 last week, according to data released by the Labor Department on Thursday.
America's economy grew more quickly than expected at the end of 2017, thanks to faster growth in private and public sector consumption, alongside stronger private investment.
US home price gains continued to gather momentum at the start of the year, on the back of low inventory levels and home vacancy rates.
Former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont was set to face a German judge on Monday after his arrest on Sunday.