Weekly review
The FTSE 100 ended the week 114.53 points higher, at 6,016.65.
Equity view
British Land reinstated its dividend after performance at its retail assets improved following the Covid-19 lockdown.
TP Icap has agreed to buy Liquidnet Holdings for up to $700m (£541m) to accelerate the modernisation and diversification of its business.
Engineering outfit Wood Group on Friday said it had extended its revolving credit facility to May 2023 and would cut it to $1.5bn.
Petropavlovsk said annual gold production would be less than expected and that it had delayed full commissioning of its Pioneer flotation plant in Russia.
Hargreaves Lansdown said it made a good start to the financial year as the investment platform reported £0.8bn of net new business and revenue up 12% in the first quarter.
CMC Markets upgraded its guidance for annual revenue after trading revenue more than doubled to a record in the first half.
Ladbrokes owner GVC Holdings on Thursday lifted core earnings guidance as a surge in online bettering and the resumption of major sports events boosted third-quarter revenue.
EasyJet reported a 50% fall in passenger numbers for its full year on Thursday, to 48 million, in line with a decrease in capacity of 48% to 55 million seats.
The board of Frasers Group has urged shareholders to back a £100m staff incentive scheme at Wednesday’s annual meeting.
Tate & Lyle's Chief Financial Officer Imran Nawaz has resigned from the company to become CFO of Tesco after little more than two years at the food and drinks ingredients company.
Primary care property investor Assura said rent collections were "in-line with normal patterns' in six months to September 30.
Audioboom has signed a partnership deal with Rogers Media to expand its advertising sales operation to Canada.
Omega Diagnostics shares received a boost on Wednesday as on news the UK government had placed an initial order for one million of its Covid-19 rapid tests.
Oxford Biomedica said it had received government approval for a fourth manufacturing suite within its Oxbox facility which will be used to develop a potential Covid-19 vaccine.
Watches of Switzerland lifted its full-year guidance on Tuesday driven by better-than-expected second quarter US and UK revenues which offset lower tourist and airport sales.
IT recruitment and training group FDM said third quarter trading continued to be in line with expectations but remained cautious on its recovery given further outbreaks of the coronavirus.
Industrial and electronic products distributor Electrocomponents named Rona Fairhead as chairman designate on Tuesday.
Weir Group has sold its oil & gas division to Caterpillar $405m (£314m) in cash as the engineering firm moves to focus on the mining sector.
Diversified Gas & Oil has signed a deal with Oaktree Capital Management for Oaktree to provide up to $1bn (£775m) for acquisitions amid stressed energy markets.
Greencore said business had picked up in the fourth quarter as the convenience foods company's annual earnings fell 39%.
Intertek has hired Reckitt Benckiser's Jonathan Timmis as its new finance chief to replace Ross McCluskey, who is moving to a new operating job at the product-checking company.
Economic news
Britain’s economy expanded by a lower-than-expected 2.1% in August compared to July, as the recovery from the coronavirus lockdown continued to lose momentum, official data revealed on Friday.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak is preparing to announce a local job furlough scheme for workers at businesses forced to close by new Covid-19 restrictions.
The Governor of the Bank of England said risks to Britain's economy were "very much on the downside" and that the BoE was ready to take aggressive action to limit the impact of a resurgence in coronavirus cases.
House prices rose to almost £250,000 in September as the stamp duty holiday and shift to homeworking kept the market busy, according to Halifax, which warned that tougher times were looming.
Barclays plans to enter four new European private banking markets next year, Reuters reported on Wednesday.
There is cause for optimism regarding the probable endgame for talks between Brussels and London on Britain's withdrawal from the single currency bloc.
Construction sector activity in the UK picked up further in September with new business coming in at its fastest clip since before the pandemic-induced lockdown.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will unveil a plan to power all homes in the country with offshore wind power by 2030 on Tuesday.
The UK services sector expanded for a third month running but hospitality and other consumer businesses contracted as the government withdrew support and tightened restrictions, a survey showed.
New UK car sales fell in September to the lowest volume for that month in 21 years, industry figures showed.
International events
The Trump administration has changed tack again and is now open to a broader stimulus package to help sustain the economy through the Covid-19 pandemic.
Spain's government has decreed a partial 'state of alarm' covering the country's capital, Madrid, and nine other cities.
Initial jobless claims fell from a revised print of 849,000 to 840,000 in the week ended 3 October, shy of expectations for a reading of 825,000.
The US President turned the tables on his Democratic rivals in negotiations for a fourth fiscal stimulus package at the last minute.
The wealth of the world’s billionaires has been rising during the ongoing pandemic up to a record high of $10.2trln.
The European Parliament has voted in favour of a legally binding target for the bloc to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 60% by 2030.
US President Donald Trump could face backlash on Tuesday for removing his face mask on his return to the White House as he urged citizens not to fear Covid-19.
The head of America's central bank laid out the case for additional government spending to prop up the economic recovery in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Services sector activity in the US picked up last month, led by a rise in new orders.
The International Monetary Fund has urged advanced economies to borrow cheaply for public investment to support economic recovery from the Covid-19 crisis.