Weekly review
The FTSE 100 finished the week 26.45 points higher at 7,349.37.
Equity view
Hunting chief executive Dennis Proctor will step down from the role in 2017 once a replacement has been appointed, the oilfield services provider announced on Friday.
Capital & Counties confirmed on Friday that it is in advanced discussions to sell its exhibition business, Venues.
Wolseley completed the partial divestment of Tobler, its Swiss plumbing and heating business, on Friday.
Co-operative Bank has entered detailed talks with "several" suitors after receiving a number of takeover approaches in recent weeks, it said on Friday, and has also continued separate talks about raising new capital.
Budget airline easyJet reported a 10.6% increase in passenger numbers for March.
Ferrexpo reported a decline in iron ore pellet production during the first quarter of 2017 as a result of scheduled pellet line maintenance in the first two months of the year.
Polymer maker Victrex has bought Zyex, a manufacturer of polyetheretherketone (PEEK) based fibres for the aerospace, automotive and industrial markets, for £10m in order to explore 3D printing capabilities.
Oil and gas explorer Cairn Energy reported that it received “very encouraging” appraisal results from its offshore well in Senegal.
Design, engineering and project management consultancy WS Atkins said it would pay £34.5m into its pension fund in the current financial year after it revealed a deficit of £318m.
Energy services firm Wood Group said it had found another £40m in annual savings as part of the £2.2bn agreed merger with rival outfit Amec Foster Wheeler.
Global medical technology company ConvaTec Group announced the US launch of ‘Foam Lite’ ConvaTec dressing on Wednesday, which it described as a light, flexible silicone foam dressing for managing low to non-exuding chronic and acute wounds.
Galliford Try has abandoned its plans to make a formal bid for rival housebuilder Bovis Homes, a week after Redrow threw the towel in.
Distribution giant Bunzl has bought two safety businesses in the US and Italy for an undisclosed sum.
Budget airline Ryanair said traffic in March was up 10% on the same month last year to 9.4m customers.
Asos's wares flew off their hangers during the first half of its fiscal year amid a big acceleration in demand from overseas that saw the company raise its guidance for full-year retail sales growth, but margins slipped.
Anglo American's diamond unit, De Beers, generated $580m in its third sales cycle since the start of the year.
Industrial equipment rental company Ashtead Group has bought New York-based Pride Equipment Corporation for £279m.
Steam, peristaltic pumping and fluid path technology specialist Spirax-Sarco Engineering announced on Monday that it signed a conditional sale and purchase agreement to acquire Gestra AG and associated businesses from Flowserve Corporation for a cash-free, debt-free consideration of €186m (£160m).
UDG Healthcare division Sharp Packaging Services announced capacity expansion projects in the US and the UK on Monday, including the $14m purchase of a 146,000 square foot pharmaceutical packaging facility in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
Integrated security company G4S announced on Monday that it completed the sale of G4S Youth Services in the US to BHSB Holdings for $56.5m paid in cash.
Economic news
Growth in house prices slowed significantly in the year to March, according to data from lender Halifax.
UK construction activity declined sharply in February, according to the Office for National Statistics on Friday.
Home buyers across the UK may have to shell out £4bn to extend their leases on their properties, according to a report from the HomeOwners Alliance (HA).
British companies will have to publish various figures on their gender pay gap within a year after a new law came into force on Thursday.
UK shop prices shrank at their slowest rate for over three years in March, as food price inflation accelerated to its sharpest rate since early 2014.
UK new car sales a record performance in the key month of March as consumers zoomed in before the new vehicle excise duty rates came into force over the weekend.
Equities in London held on to their early moderate gains on Tuesday to close the session on a positive note, helped throughout the day by weakness in sterling and despite a fall in UK construction growth.
Sterling was knocked lower on Tuesday on the back of a slowing in UK construction activity and suppressed thereafter by a blend of geopolitical unease gripping markets in Europe, the US and Asia.
UK manufacturing output remained solid in March but dipped to a four-month low, a closely watched survey revealed on Monday.
Spain’s foreign minister Alfonso Dastis has said there was "no reason" for the aggressive comments made by former government minister Michael Howard at the weekend, where he suggested Britain would be prepared to go to war to protect its control of Gibraltar.
International events
US warships fired almost 60 Tomahawk missiles at a Syrian airfield early on Friday in response to what President Donald Trump said was a "barbaric" chemical attack by the Damascus government.
Republicans in the US Senate have invoked the so-called 'nuclear option' in order push through the confirmation of Donald Trump's pick to fill the vacant seat on the Supreme Court.
Activity in China's services sector slowed in March, prompting some economists to advise investors to be on the lookout for a turning point in economic activity in the second quarter.
The number of regular smokers has grown worldwide to over one billion, but major progress has been made in sustained efforts to combat the prevalence of the habit, according to new research from medical journal The Lancet.
US President Donald Trump has vowed to introduce major reforms to the Dodd-Frank banking regulations in the US, which were introduced in the aftermath of the global financial crisis in 2008.
Eurozone business growth hit a near six-year high in March, according to a survey released on Wednesday.
Unemployment continued to fall at a steady clip in Spain during the month of March, although temporary hiring still accounted for the bulk of new jobs.
Eurozone retail sales bounced back more than expected in February thanks to strong growth in Germany and France and solid output elsewhere, but economists said the data suggested consumer spending growth slowed in the first quarter of the year.
Activity in China's manufacturing sector slowed last month as orders for export sales rose at the their weakest pace for three months.
Factory activity in the single currency bloc accelerated sharply last month - rising at its quickest pace since 2011 - led by a core group comprised of Germany, the Netherlands and Austria, but amid rising cost pressures.