Weekly review

Weekly Review

The FTSE 100 closed higher by 17.03 points on the week at 7,070.70.

Equity view

Pharmaceutical group Clinigen has completed the takeover of sector peer Idis for £225m.

Industrial transportation company Interbulk said its revenues during the first six months of the year will be hurt by the decline in the oil price.

Pharmaceutical group Mylan has confirmed it will make a formal bid worth $33bn (£21.8bn) in cash and stock for drug-making firm Perrigo.

There were contrasting opinions on Tesco's valuation between Wall Street heavyweights Sanford C Bernstein and Goldman Sachs after the UK supermarket group reported record losses this week.

Britain has cut its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by another 1% to 20.95%, as the government edges closer towards turning the bank fully private.

Publishing and education group Pearson has been downgraded by broker Numis on valuation grounds, despite a first-quarter statement that was in line with forecasts.

First-quarter numbers from Reckitt Benckiser were better than the market expected, with like-for-like sales from the household goods behemoth up 5% thanks to strong growth from consumer health brands such as Nurofen, Gaviscon and Durex.

Aerospace and defence manufacture Cobham said it expects its full-year results to be in line with forecasts despite the adverse impact on earnings from foreign currency translation during the first quarter of the year.

Banks' technology is old but their size makes adopting innovation a long and complicated process, Barclays chief data officer, Usama Fayyad said on Thursday.

A subdued Senior cautioned of slower production rates of new Airbus aeroplanes and but said that this was being offset by an accelerating trucks market and stronger dollar.

UK housebuilder Taylor Wimpey delivered a bullish statement to the market on Thursday, saying that a strong economy has prompted an upbeat start to the spring selling season.

Diversified mining giant Anglo American said it delivered a "solid" production performance in the first quarter, in line with its expectations despite two of its three largest divisions experiencing declines in output.

Trading in the first quarter of 2015 at aeroplane components maker Meggitt has continued along its expected flight path of low to mid single-digit revenue growth for the full year.

Bunzl Distribution, a US subsidiary of global logistics and outsourcing giant Bunzl, is deploying a new project management IT platform from NYSE-listed ServiceNow, which it hopes will lead to headline efficiency savings, according to the executive managing the rollout.

The boss of the London Stock Exchange Group has said that the market operator could potentially be part of a tie-up with one of the other four main Western exchange groups within the next two years.

Record annual losses from Tesco were widely attacked by financial analysts and City traders but there was optimism that the results showed several hints of a turnaround.

Full-year results from Tesco showed a larger than expected pre-tax loss of £6.4bn - the biggest in retail history - as well as a ravaged balance sheet as chief executive Dave Lewis looked to "draw a line under the past".

Economic news

The Labour Party lead continued to grow in the newest Populus poll, in which Labour held 35% of the UK's voting intention. The Conservatives held onto their 32% of the vote, while UKIP held 14%, the Liberal Democrats 8% and the Green Party 5%.
Deutsche Bank has agreed to pay $2.5bn to settle US interest rate-rigging claims from UK and US regulators, including the largest ever UK fine for rate manipulation.

UK public sector debt has been revised down for the last year, giving a boost to the economic credentials of the Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition ahead of the general election.

Gross mortgage lending grew in March despite a decline during the first quarter of the year, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).

The Bank of England turned more positive on the outlook for the Eurozone economy, with all members of the Monetary Policy Committee now seeing an increase in Bank Rate as "more likely than not" over the coming three years, the minutes of their last policy meeting showed.

New figures released on Monday by Rightmove showed that new seller’s asking prices rose 1.6% month-on-month in April to reach £286,133 on average across England and Wales, beating the all-time high reached last June.

International events

US durable goods orders rose more than expected in March, driven by demand for autos, commercial jets and military hardware.
Eurozone finance ministers failed to make much progress in debt talks with Greece on Friday, with Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis criticised for a lack of urgency in delivering concessions in return for financial aid.

German business confidence improved for a sixth consecutive month in April on the back of better sentiment in the manufacturing sector, reflecting stability at a high level in the economy overall.

Eurozone consumer confidence fell in April, registering its first decline in five months as the uncertainty surrounding Greece weighed on sentiment.

The US economy will pick up this year, paving the way for interest rate increases, but if forecasts are wide off the mark again they may need to be deferred, the president of the Federal Reserve bank of Boston said on Wednesday.

The US Department of Justice announced on Tuesday that a British citizen was arrested in the UK, accused of having contributed to the May 2010 flash crash in which the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 600 points within minutes.

China´s central bank signalled to the market a shift towards a more supportive stance this weekend, with economists now expecting further policy measures to ensure Beijing´s growth targets are reached.