Weekly review
London's FTSE 100 ended the week down 91.11 points at 7,380.64.
Equity view
Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct said on Friday that its £139. 2m offer for home shopping company Findel has lapsed after it failed to get the required level of support from shareholders.
Numis Corporation reported a plunge in interim profits and revenues as domestic political uncertainty precipitated a period of weak UK investor sentiment.
Subprime lender Provident Financial saw customer numbers grow in the first three months of its trading year, with a "stable" increase to impairments over at its Vanquis unit.
Share Plc, formerly The Share Centre, confirmed on Friday that it has received a preliminary approach from online investment platform Interactive Investor, which may or may not lead to an offer being made for the company.
InterContinental Hotels said it made a strong start to the year as revenue per room increased and it expanded capacity but investors were disappointed by a dip in occupancy rates.
Britain's biggest bank said pre-tax profit for the three months to the end of March increased 31% to $6.2bn as revenue rose 5% to $14.4bn. Operating expenses fell 12% to $8.2bn. On an adjusted basis, excluding exceptional items, HSBC's profit rose 9% to $6.4bn, beating a consensus forecast of $5.7bn. Adjusted revenue was also 9% higher at $14.4bn.
IQE announced on Thursday that its recently-constructed Newport Mega Foundry has received its first mass production order from its existing leading vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) customer.
Consumer goods group Reckitt Benckiser posted a small uptick in first-quarter like-for-like revenue on Thursday after what it called a "slow" start to the year, which saw sales dented by a weak cold and flu season.
Metro Bank shares tumbled in early trade on Thursday after its first-quarter numbers - released after the close the day before - revealed a big drop in profits and the loss of several large customers following the discovery of a major accounting error earlier this year.
Coca-Cola HBC posted a rise in first-quarter revenue on Thursday, with a solid performance across all segments and a particularly pleasing contribution from emerging markets.
Barclays thwarted a bid by Edward Bramson to force his way on to the board, the activist investor conceded before the bank's annual meeting.
Greencoat UK Wind on Thursday said it was raising £665m in order to pay down debt and fund the expansion of its portfolio of UK-based renewable energy projects.
Royal Dutch Shell's first-quarter profit fell but easily outstripped expectations as stronger trading and higher gas prices helped make up for lower oil prices.
Engine maker Rolls-Royce reiterated cost guidance on repairs to its Trent 1000 aircraft engine adding it was on track to meet overall full year expectations.
Equiniti Group on Thursday reported that 2019 has "started well" with a number of new client wins, leaving the company confident of achieving full-year expectations.
GlaxoSmithKline posted a rise in first-quarter sales on Wednesday as its vaccines division benefited from strong US sales of shingles vaccine Shingrix.
Oil major BP posted better-than-expected first quarter profits and cash flows for the first three months of 2019, together with higher output.
Sirius Minerals narrowed total losses in its last trading year as a result of a fair value re-measurement of derivatives associated with its convertible loans.
Mining conglomerate Glencore cut its full year copper production guidance as first quarter output fell 7% due to several factors, including flooding in Australia and safety-related stoppages and smelter outages in Zambia.
St James's Place's funds under management reached a record £103.5bn in the first quarter as the wealth management company attracted more investments.
Economic news
The Conservative and Labour parties both lost ground at local elections on Friday, with smaller parties and independent candidates hoovering up more seats as voters expressed their frustration over Brexit deadlock.
Ben Broadbent, Bank of England deputy governor for monetary policy, said markets had become too relaxed about the outlook for interest rates. He pushed home the BoE’s message that its inflation forecast suggested a firmer response.
The UK services sector returned to growth in April - but only just, according to figures released on Friday.
Theresa May is considering keeping the UK aligned to European Union customs regulations for years after Brexit as part of a compromise deal with the Labour Party, according to a report from The Times on Thursday.
UK house price growth ticked up a touch in April but remained weak, according to the latest survey released by Nationwide on Wednesday.
The IHS Markit/CIPS UK services PMI business activity index rose to 50.4 last month from March’s 32-month low of 48.9, coming in pretty much in line with expectations.
Manufacturing growth slowed in April as the pace of Brexit stockpiling eased. The IHS Markit/CIPS manufacturing purchasing managers' index fell to a two-month low 53.1 from a 13-month high of 55.1 in March.
Construction output in Britain rose for the first time since January last month, as the UK’s booming housebuilding market helped overcome ongoing weakness elsewhere in the sector.
The EY ITEM Club's spring forecast predicted growth of 1.3% for the full year, after a pace of expansion of 1.4% in 2018, and stated that stronger growth in the first quarter of the year will likely prove to be a "false dawn" as the full ramifications of Brexit have yet to be felt.
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett told the Financial Times his Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate was "ready to buy something in the UK tomorrow", regardless of whether the country leaves the EU or not.
UK house price growth ticked up a touch in April but remained weak, according to the latest survey released by Nationwide on Wednesday.
International events
Speaking on Friday, the heads of the Federal Reserve banks of Chicago and Dallas sounded a 'dovish' note on the outlook for monetary policy.
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, hiring jumped by 263,000 in April and the unemployment rate fell by two tenths of a percentage point to 3.6%. Economists had forecast a 181,000 increase in payrolls and an unchanged rate of unemployment at 3.8%.
The US central bank stayed put on interest rates, but its chairman, Jerome Powell, pushed back on expectations for a rate cut in 2019.
Sales of iPhones fell heavily in the three months to March, but an uptick in demand at the end of the quarter has allowed Apple to up its guidance for the next quarter.
Electric car maker Tesla plans to raise around $2.3bn from investors, including a big purchase by chief executive Elon Musk.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Wednesday claimed to have defeated an attempted coup which he blamed on the nation's far right and its support from the "deranged" US government.
3M agreed to buy privately-held medical technology company Acelity in a $6.7bn deal, including debt.
Uber's $90bn initial public offering is already oversubscribed, according to unnamed sources, further underpinning investor faith in the loss-making ride-hailing service and possibly also reflecting the buoyant mood of late in global capital markets.
US oil and product stockpiles jumped last week, amid a small increase in net imports and higher domestic output at fresh record highs.
France’s Societe Generale posted a 26% drop in first-quarter net income on Friday as it pushes ahead with its recently-announced restructuring amid challenging market conditions.
Banco Santander posted a 10.4% drop in first-quarter net profit on Tuesday as it took a hit from restructuring costs in the UK and Poland and high inflation in Argentina.
The Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) led by Pedro Sánchez is set to remain in power after coming away with the most seats in Congress at Sunday’s general election.
AIB Group reported a “good start” to its year on Wednesday, with its net interest margin rising to 2.50% for its first quarter, up from 2.48% at the end of the fourth quarter of 2018.
Budget airline Ryanair reported a 10% jump in April traffic on Thursday.
Air France-KLM's first-quarter loss widened as the airline suffered from too much capacity in the market and rising fuel costs.
The single currency bloc's economy grew more quickly-than-expected at the turn of the year, partly as the Spanish economy bounded ahead of forecasts.