Weekly review
The FTSE 100 finished the week 21.78 points lower at 7,327.59.
Equity view
City watchdogs launched an investigation into Barclays chief executive Jes Staley's attempts to uncover the identity of a secret whistleblower at the bank, which went so far as to request assistance from a US law enforcement agency.
BHP Billiton directors rejected demands by activist investor Elliott Management to cancel the mining giant's UK-Australia dual listing alongside a £22bn disposal of its US petroleum business.
South African private hospital group Mediclinic International said on Monday that its Swiss platform, Hirslanden, is expected to take a limited hit in 2018 after the Zurich Cantonal Parliament voted not to approve a proposed levy on privately insured patients treated in listed hospitals.
Centamin´s levels of production for the first three months of the year were in-line with company guidance, leading management to reiterate its full-year forecasts.
A Carillion joint venture was awarded the Hestia South East and London Region Multi Activity Contract with a potential value of up to £200m across an initial contract period of five years.
Cape said on Monday that litigation brought against it by Aviva has been settled and the claims have been withdrawn with no admission of liability and each party bearing their own legal costs.
JD Sports Fashion on Tuesday reported annual profits before tax up 56% and was reasonably confident of further growth this year in the face of likely inflationary headwinds on margins.
After a ramp up in production in the fourth quarter, Vedanta Resources achieved record levels of aluminium, zinc, silver and copper production at its Indian mines.
Recruiter Robert Walters reported a 33% jump in net fee income for the first quarter as it noted an upturn in financial services recruitment activity in London.
De La Rue said that its full-year operating profit is expected to be above the top end of market consensus, driven by good growth in Identity Systems and Product Authentication & Traceability product lines.
Strong traffic figures from Deutsche Lufthansa lifted its shares and helped boost those of rivals including British Airways owner International Consolidated Airlines.
On Wednesday, Tesco reported a 29. 9% rise in group full year operating profits to £1. 28bn as it delivered its first growth in like-for-like sales since 2010, though a Serious Fraud Office fine meant reported results declined.
Retailer WH Smith grew profits 4% in the first half of the year as sales from its travel arm more than offset continued decline of the high street business.
Agriculture and engineering group Carr's said its expectations for the full year remain unchanged, as its first-half pre-tax profit slipped a little.
UK unions representing postal workers said they could take industrial action against Royal Mail's decision to shut its final salary pension scheme next March.
Healthcare group Mediclinic said its two largest platforms, Switzerland and Southern Africa, in addition to its Dubai business, all performed in line with expectations during the 2017 financial year, but Abu Dhabi had underperformed.
Consumer goods maker Reckitt Benckiser is reportedly working with Morgan Stanley on the sale of its food business.
Recruiter Hays said full year profits were likely to be at the top of the current range of market forecasts after it drummed up a record level of quarterly net fees, helped by the UK decline beginning to ease off.
Economic news
UK inflation eased slightly on a monthly basis in March but remained above the Bank Of England’s 2% target rate for a second month, with a rise in food prices offset by lower air fares due to a later Easter this year.
Even though the employment market improved, UK wage growth slowed to its weakest level in seven months, official data showed on Wednesday, increasing the pressure on consumers as inflation rises.
Housing supply shortages continued to worsen in March, according to a report from the surveying industry on Thursday, which also added to reports that London's property slowdown was dragging on house prices.
Average house prices rose 5. 8% in the year to February, according to Land Registry data from the Office for National Statistics, up from 5. 3% in the year to January but still below the average annual growth of 7. 3% in 2016.
High Street sales underwhelmed in March, although the changed timing of Easter meant trying to discern the true underlying trend was tricky, one of the country's largest business lobby group said.
A secret recording from 29 October 2008 could add to evidence the Bank of England pressured commercial banks to keep interest rates on the interbank market lower than they would otherwise have been, the BBC said.
Climate change regulations in the UK are set to be cut back by the government in order to provide a boost for trade when the region leaves the European Union, leaked civil service documents showed.
A High Court judge has dismissed a challenge by anti-fracking campaigners fighting a government decision to grant Cuadrilla planning permission at a site in Lancashire.
UK banks have begun to clamp down on credit card lending as they "significantly" tighten credit scoring criteria over concerns about economic conditions.
International events
The US central bank should create some policy space for the future by allowing its balance sheet to gradually shrink to a normal size, Federal Reserve rate-setter James Bullard said.
UK foreign secretary Boris Johnson was criticised by officials in Russia after he cancelled a planned visit to Moscow due to increasing tensions in the Syrian conflict.
France's presidential election race has been shaken up by the late surge of leftist Jean-Luc Melenchon into third place in several polls, closing the gap on what had been thought a two-horse race.
North Korea warned it would respond to "reckless acts of aggression" by America with "whatever methods the US wants to take", after US navy ships were redirected towards its waters.
The US Federal Reserve's focus had shifted to maintaining gains in growth, Chair Janet Yellen said on Tuesday, adding that inflation was still a little bit below its target.
German economic sentiment improved more than expected in April, according to the latest survey from the ZEW Center for European Economic Research in Mannheim.
Euro area industrial production registered an unexpected decline in February as energy output shrank rapidly, leaving economists a tad divided on the outlook.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson arrived in Moscow on Wednesday for crunch talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, as the fallout from last week’s chemical weapons attack and subsequent airstrikes in Syria intensified.
US President Donald Trump said the dollar is "getting too strong" and that he has offered China more favorable trade terms in exchange for helping nix the North Korean threat, sending the dollar and government bond yields shooting lower overnight and hitting several European stocks.
US import prices edged past forecasts last month even as the cost of imported fuels eased back.
Chinese export and import growth raced past forecasts in March but some economists highlighted the slower pace of increase in import volumes as a potential sign that the economy might have already started to cool.