Weekly review

The FTSE 100 ended the week 17.18 points higher at 7,558.59.

Equity view

Oil field services company Petrofac on Friday said it was selling its interest in the North Sea's Greater Stella area to Ithaca Energy up to $292m.

IT infrastructure and services provider Computacenter posted a 24.3% jump in first-half pre-tax profit on Friday as revenue grew and the company boosted its dividend per share.

Shire announced on Friday that, following priority review, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the ‘TAKHZYRO’ (lanadelumab-flyo) injection for prophylaxis to prevent attacks of hereditary angioedema (HAE) in patients 12 years of age and older.

Property and construction company Henry Boot reported a 16% rise in first-half pre-tax profit on Friday and said second-half trading has started well.

CRH reported a 5% increase in first-half profit as the building materials group benefited from recovering construction markets following a bout of severe winter weather.

Playtech - which issued a profit warning back in July - posted a drop in interim earnings on Thursday but a rise in revenue as the gaming and casino software maker said Asian markets were increasingly competitive.

AstraZeneca announced top-line results from the AERISTO Phase IIIb trial for Bevespi Aerosphere (glycopyrronium/formoterol fumarate) in patients with moderate-to-very severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) on Thursday.

Specialist lending and retail savings group OneSavings Bank announced a “strong” set of results for the six months ended 30 June on Thursday, with profit before tax improving 17% to £91.8m.

Intertek has replaced chief financial officer Ed Leigh with group financial controller Ross McCluskey in a management shakeup at the product testing company.

Go-Ahead Group announced on Wednesday that group chief financial officer Patrick Butcher would be leaving the company, to join Capita as CFO there.

Diploma has announced the acquisition of St Albans-based FS Cables for £18m in cash, in a deal that is expected to be immediately earnings-enhancing.

Struggling department store chain Debenhams has appointed former Domino's Pizza CFO Rachel Osborne as its new chief financial officer.

Charter Court Financial Services posted a rise in first-half profit on Tuesday as loans rose and the company announced an inaugural dividend.

Polymetal International’s first-half earnings rose strongly as the precious metals miner benefited from rising prices and sales of gold.

Persimmon reported a 13% jump in profits from the first half of the year as the housebuilder saw a slower rate of sales growth but margins ballooned.

AIM-listed model train set maker Hornby has announced the appointment of John Stansfield as non-executive chairman with immediate effect.

LondonMetric has bought two urban logistics warehouses for £23.5m, reflecting a blended net initial yield of 4.9%, rising to 5.6% after five years, with an average lease length of 13 years.

Premier Oil announced that the development of its Tolmount Main gas field has been sanctioned by the joint venture and infrastructure partners on Monday.

John Wood Group announced on Monday that it has secured a new six-year contract with Shell to provide asset management services to the Malampaya deepwater gas-to-power project in the Philippines.

Georgia-focused lender TBC Bank posted a sharp improvement in its profits after tax for the second quarter of 2018, thanks to a to big reduction in its cost base, even as it positioned itself for potential upside from a recovery in the economy of neighbouring Azerbaijan.

Economic news

UK mortgage approvals fell in July, according to data released by UK Finance on Friday.

The UK government called on Thursday for an additional six weeks of drug stockpiles in order to be prepared in case of a 'no-deal' Brexit.

Annual revenues from alcohol sales would fall by £13bn in the UK if customers stuck to recommended drinking limits, a new study by Academics from the Institute of Alcohol Studies (IAS) and the University of Sheffield’s Alcohol Research Group found.

UK retail sales unexpectedly rose in August, with shoppers hitting the high street as they made the most of the heatwave, but the outlook was less positive, according to the latest survey from the Confederation of British Industry.

Health and beauty retailer Superdrug is being held to ransom by hackers who claim to have stolen the data of 20,000 customers.

The Charity Commission has issued a warning to the RSPCA on Wednesday after a probe revealed former chief Michael Ward who left in May was paid a sum of over £150,000 as his salary.

The government has posted its biggest July budget surplus for 18 years, giving Philip Hammond room for spending within his self-imposed fiscal constraints as the chancellor prepares his annual budget.

UK manufacturing orders have remained solid this month and companies expect activity to continue at a similar pace over the next few months, an industry survey revealed on Tuesday.

UK house prices dropped 2.3% in August from July, as new sellers launched a ‘late summer sale’ to try and find a buyer more quickly, according to figures released earlier by Rightmove.

Power bills in the UK are likely to rise by £60 next year despite the introduction of a price cap by the government, according to a new analysis.

International events

America ramped-up its trade war with China overnight, with a second round of 25% tariffs, this time on $16bn-worth of Chinese products, having kicked into effect at the stroke of midnight.

The rate of house price inflation in the US eased slightly last month, but economists said there remained room for them to rise a bit more quickly, albeit not a lot.

New home sales in the US fell short of forecasts in July amid a sharp increase in prices.

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that stock markets would crash if he is impeached and commented on the Michael Cohen case, saying that cooperating with the government in exchange for a lighter sentence "almost ought to be illegal".

The minutes of the US central bank's last policy meeting released on Wednesday evening solidified market expectations for another 25 basis point interest rate hike come September, even while hinting at the possibility of a 'pause' thereafter should there be a "major escalation in trade disputes".

A top US central bank official said on Tuesday that at least a near-term top in short-term interest rates may be somewhat nearer now, while also indicating that he would be concerned should the so-called Treasury yield curve 'invert'.

Crude oil inventories in the US fell sharply last week, on the heels of a big drop in imports and still loft levels of refinery demand.

President Donald Trump accused China and the European Union of manipulating their currencies to try and combat American tariffs, while acknowledging that the US Federal Reserve is the chief cause of the strengthening dollar.

Russian cyber-attacks have been targeting US conservative political groups ahead of mid-term elections, Microsoft revealed after it managed to block several attempts.

Beijing citizens have begun to enjoy some of the cleanest air in a decade as positive results for the government's anti-smog push start to show.