Weekly review
The FTSE 100 ended the week up 3.81 points to 7,188.30.
Equity view
Randgold Resources is on track to meet its revised production targets for 2016, the gold miner’s boss said on Friday.
Insurer Beazley reported a 3% jump in full-year profit on Friday as premiums written increased and the company lifted its dividend.
Residential repair and improvements business HomeServe announced on Friday that it has acquired shareholdings in Checkatrade in the UK and Habitissimo in Spain.
Traffic at budget airline Ryanair rose 17% in January as the load factor ticked higher.
Food service company Compass Group reported growth in first-quarter revenue on Thursday as it maintained its outlook for 2017 and said earnings would see an uplift from the weak pound.
FTSE 250 food producer Cranswick said on Thursday that trading in the third quarter was in line with its expectations and expressed confidence over the remainder of the current financial year.
Chemicals giant Johnson Matthey posted its third quarter trading update on Thursday, reporting it remained in line with expectations, and confirmed its outlook for the full year.
Donald Trump's election win derailed a solid start to Aberdeen Asset Management's financial year, leading to £10. 5bn of outflows from its emerging markets-focused funds as investors moved into less volatile assets.
Multinational sports betting and gaming group and owner of the 'Foxy Bingo' brand GVC Holdings provided a trading and refinancing update on Thursday, ahead of the publication of its full year results 23 March.
Anglo-Swiss miner Glencore said that that its production was in line with guidance for 2016 with an increase in nickel mined and production suspended for copper, zinc, coal and oil.
Durex and Nurofen maker Reckitt Benckiser confirmed that it is “advanced negotiations” to buy US baby milk company Mead Johnson for around $16. 7bn, a move which could bolster its health products business.
Mobile telecoms giant Vodafone posted a trading update for the quarter to 31 December on Thursday, reporting solid growth but disappointing investors with full-year guidance.
Intellectual property-based business developer IP Group announced on Wednesday the completion of its acquisition of Parkwalk Advisors, which was first announced on 16 December, following receipt of approval of a change of controller application from the Financial Conduct Authority.
Sir Ken Morrison, the former chairman of Morrisons supermarkets, has died peacefully at home in North Yorkshire at the age of 85 following a short illness.
Property developer Telford Homes has bought the former London Electricity Board building in east London for £30.2m in order to build affordable new homes.
Central and Eastern Europe focused airline Wizz Air cut its underlying net profit guidance for the full year on Wednesday despite reporting a surge in third-quarter profit, on the back of lower fuel prices and severe weather conditions.
Soft drinks maker AG Barr put some fizz back in its performance in the second half of the year to help it hit full year profit targets and said it was well placed to traverse another challenging year ahead.
Alongside departure of chief executive Dido Harding, telecoms group TalkTalk reported that revenue and earnings for the current financial year would be affected by strong levels of customer re-contracting, but will be in line with previous guidance.
Water and wastewater company Severn Trent released a trading update for the three months to 31 December on Tuesday, saying that after a “strong operational performance” in the third quarter, it now expected net customer outcome delivery incentive rewards for the full-year 2016-17 to be ahead of previous guidance of £15m.
Britvic said it was confident of meeting market expectations for the full year as it reported growth in first-quarter revenue.
Online grocery retailer Ocado posted its preliminary results for the year to 27 November 2016 on Tuesday, with gross retail sales improving 13. 6% to £1. 27bn over the year.
The UK government has cut its stake in Lloyds Banking Group to just under 5%, or 3. 57bn shares, as it looks to take the bank private again in the next few months.
Vodafone has confirmed it is in talks over merging its struggling Indian business with Idea Cellular, which is part of the Aditya Birla Group.
Economic news
UK retailers reported increased price deflation in January, despite a rise in food prices as shops continue to see building cost pressures from the fall in sterling and higher commodity prices. The BRC-Nielsen shop price index showed annual deflation of 1.7% in January, an acceleration from December's 1.4% fall.
UK service sector growth eased more than expected in January, according to data released on Friday. The Markit/CIPS services purchasing managers’ index declined to 54.5 from 56.2 in December, missing expectations for a reading of 55.8. A level above 50 indicates expansion while a reading below signals contraction.
The UK online retail sector maintains a “strong brand appeal” abroad, according to the British Retail Consortium. The volume of overseas customers searching on Google for UK retailers grew 23% across all devices in the fourth quarter of 2016 compared with the previous period, with mobile devices searches increasing by 16%.
Alongside its decision to leave monetary policy unchanged for another month, the Bank of England made a huge upgrade to its forecast for UK economic growth this year and continues to see above-target inflation for the coming three years.
UK construction sector growth slowed more than expected in January, a survey of the industry showed on Thursday, but confidence for the year ahead picked up to its strongest in over a year. The Markit Construction Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for January fell to 52.2 from 54.2 the previous month, worse than the 53.8 consensus estimate and the slowest rate of growth since last summer.
UK Members of Parliament voted on Wednesday evening in favour of giving the Prime Minister the power to trigger Article 50 and begin negotiations for Britain to leave the European Union
UK manufacturing output expanded in January for the sixth straight month, as expected, but price pressures intensified with input cost inflation surging a record high. The Markit/CIPS manufacturing purchasing managers' index for January fell to 55.9 from December's two-and-a-half-year high of 56.1, exactly in line with forecasts.
House prices in the UK continued to rise in January, albeit at a slower pace, supported by a lack of available properties for sale, Nationwide said.
UK mortgage approvals and net consumer credit both rose less than forecast in December, Bank of England data showed on Tuesday, along with a sharp drop in lending to businesses.
UK consumer confidence fell back in January, data from the European Commission has shown, while eurozone confidence was better than expected.
International events
China´s economy may have lost some momentum at the beginning of the year, economists said following the release of a weaker than expected reading on the country´s factory sector, but some signs in the report pointed to more robust external conditions helping to prop up demand. Caixin´s purchasing managers' index for China’s manufacturing sector fell from 51.9 in December to 51.0 for January, undershooting forecasts for a dip to 51.8.
The eurozone economy kicked off the year on a firm footing, with output growth in January maintained at December’s five-and-a-half year high, and job creation at a nine-year high. IHS Markit’s final composite purchasing managers’ index was unchanged in January from December’s reading of 54.4, but up a touch from the flash estimate of 54.3.
Retail sales in the 19 countries that share the euro unexpectedly fell in December, according to the latest figures from Eurostat.
Donald Trump is making tracks on his promise to cut business regulation, as reports suggest he is to sign an executive order on Friday which strips back the Dodd-Frank regulatory framework put in place following the 2008 financial crisis.
Private sector employment in the US rose a lot more than expected in January, according to the latest figures from ADP.
Manufacturing activity in the eurozone kicked off the new year at a 69-month high, according to data released on Wednesday. Markit’s final purchasing managers’ index printed at 55.2 in January, up from the flash estimate of 55.1 and December’s reading of 54.9.
A widely-followed barometre of US consumer confidence cooled at the turn of the year, as expectations were downgraded. The Conference Board institute's index retreated from 113.3 in December to 111.8 in January.
Eurozone inflation hit a near four-year high in January as energy prices surged, according to a flash estimate released by Eurostat. Inflation in the 19 countries that share the euro rose to 1.8% from 1.1% in December, above analysts’ expectations for 1.5% and marking the highest inflation rate since February 2013. The European Central Bank’s target is to keep inflation just below 2%.
The eurozone’s gross domestic product rose by 0. 5% in the fourth quarter compared to the three months to September and 1. 8% from the same quarter in 2015, according to a flash estimate by Eurostat.
US consumer spending rose in line with expectations in December while growth in personal income fell short of estimates, the Commerce Department revealed on Monday.