Weekly Review
The FTSE 100 index finished up 33.47 points on the week at 6,837.92.
Equity view
UK software group Micro Focus International is to merge with The Attachmate Group in a $2.4bn deal which "presents a rare opportunity to achieve a significant increase in the scale and breadth" of the business.
Heineken received an "approach" from SABMiller regarding a potential acquisition, but had rejected it. Following consultations with its main shareholder, the Heineken family, the offer was deemed "non-actionable".
London-listed travel operator TUI Travel and its German holding company TUI AG have reached an agreement on the terms for an all-share nil premium merger of the two companies.
Despite continuing price softness in the holiday industry Thomas Cook said it expected its cost-cutting regime would enable full year results to show "material improvement over last year".
British online fashion retailer ASOS has said that profits are unlikely to grow in 2014-15 because of significant investment in its international pricing.
A second-half return to form at its medical division helped engineer Smiths Group ratchet its revenues back on a par with the prior year, though they still fell short of City expectations.
Budget airline Easyjet has decided to increase its payout ratio and said it will return 40% of its profits to shareholders this year. It also announced that it has reached a discounted deal with Airbus to exercise existing purchase rights over 27 current-generation A320 aircraft.
Sky Deutschland has released a statement outlining that British Sky Broadcasting’s offer “doesn’t reflect the company’s long-term potential and therefore its inner value”.
GlaxoSmithKline has been found guilty in China of bribing non-government personnel with money or property to promote its products.
Economic news
The average asking price for a home in the UK bounced back by 0.9% month-on-month in September to reach £264,875, according to Rightmove’s house price index.
UK inflation slowed to its lowest over the past five years in August, from 1.6% to 1.5%, easing the pressure on the Bank of England to tighten monetary policy. Inflation has now eased back to where it was in May, a level not seen since October 2009.
UK house prices rose by 11.7% in July, with London seeing the highest growth, the Office for National Statistics said.
The volume of UK retail sales grew by 0.4% month-on-month in August, and by 3.9% when compared to the year ago period, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Although the latest vote by the Bank of England to keep rates on hold remained divided, minutes of the meeting revealed a relatively dovish tone on Wednesday. The Monetary Policy Committee acknowledged the continued subdued wage growth and downside risks to economic growth.
Unemployment claims in the UK dropped by 37,000 in August, while the jobless rate fell to 6.2% in the three months to July, from 6.4% previously.
Scotland has decided against leaving the United Kingdom as the pro-union campaign won the Scottish independence referendum by a comfortable margin. With 31 out of Scotland’s 32 authorities having declared, the pro-independence movement had secured 45% of votes and stood 10 points behind the ‘no’ campaign, a considerably bigger margin than the polls had anticipated.
International events
US industrial production fell 0.1% month-on-month in August, the first decline in four months.
The US is planning to send 3,000 troops to Liberia in a bid to tackle the Ebola virus, officials revealed on Monday.
German investor sentiment has fallen for a ninth consecutive month in September.
French aerospace giant Airbus Group will sell off certain non-core businesses as it streamlines its defence and space division in the face of tight government budgets and increasing global competition.
The People’s Bank of China injected more liquidity to its banking system, pumping $81bn into the five biggest state-owned banks. The central bank also cut its 14-day repo rate.
The first round of the European Central Bank’s new four-year loan package was launched on Thursday, as it attempts to revive the stagnant Eurozone economy.
The annual rate of US inflation cooled in August from 2% to 1.7%, possibly easing the pressure on the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates. Consumer prices actually over the month by 0.2%, the first fall in 16 months.
The Federal Open Market Committee took another $10bn off of its monthly asset purchase programme to $15bn, leaving it on track to wind up quantitative easing next month. However, while it said it still sees room for improvement in labour market, policymakers lifted their interest rate projections for 2015 and 2016 slightly.
The Alibaba Group has confirmed the pricing for its initial public offering will start at $68 per share, the top of the expected range. Friday's debut marked the largest in US stock-market history.