Royal Mail averts strike with deal on pensions: Threatened postal strikes have

been averted after Royal Mail and the Communication Workers Union struck a

peace deal over pensions, pay and working hours. The two sides issued a joint

statement on a proposed agreement, although it must be approved by the

Royal Mail board and a ballot of CWU members. At the heart of the deal is a

commitment from both sides to create a type of pension scheme never tried

before in Britain.

Trump softens tone to say US is open for business: President Trump took to

the stage at Davos to launch a sales pitch for investment in America and

softened his isolationist rhetoric. Speaking to a group of the world’s political

and business elite, Mr Trump declared that he had created “a brand new

United States”. Further, he added that, “the world is witnessing the

resurgence of a strong and prosperous America and we are competitive once

again. We have just enacted the largest tax cuts in American history.”

Onthemarket float falls short in battle of property websites: Estate agents

battling against the stranglehold of Rightmove and Zoopla have floated their

own rival property advertising portal, but only after slashing the offer price and

scaling back their ambitions. Onthemarket said that it had raised £30 million

from outside investors and that dealings in its shares would begin on February

9 on the junior Alternative Investment Market. Based on the placing price, the

business would be worth £100 million.

Investor takes a £50 million hit from collapse of Carillion: HICL became the

latest company to warn of trouble caused by the collapse of Carillion. Shares

in the British infrastructure specialist, an investment trust with holdings in

public-private partnership infrastructure projects, closed 4.3% down at

141.25p after it warned that Carillion’s collapse had triggered loan defaults on

some projects. It expects to take a £50 million hit to its net asset value as a

result, on top of a previous provision of £9.4 million.

Wall Street likely to suffer a sharp fall, Bank of America Merrill Lynch warns:

Wall Street is “very likely” to suffer a sharp fall, possibly of thousands of

points, in the next few weeks, one of the world’s biggest investment banks

has warned. Bank of America Merrill Lynch told institutional clients to brace for

a “technical pullback”, or stock market correction, in the first quarter, after

months of build-up in so-called investor euphoria.

Trump’s hopes fade as GDP growth fails to beat forecasts: President Trump’s

ambition to expand the American economy at a pace not seen since the years

of George W Bush suffered a setback when an official estimate showed that

growth was slower-than-expected at the end of 2017. Growth in gross

domestic product slowed to a 2.6% annual rate in the fourth quarter, the US

Department of Commerce said. This was less than the 3.0% forecast by

economists and meant that annual growth was 2.3% last year, below Mr

Trump’s goal of at least 3.0%.

Current

Value (%)

Change* 1W% Change

FTSE 100 7,666.1 0.0%

DAX 30 13,298.5 -0.3%

CAC 40 5,525.1 -0.1%

DJIA** 26,616.7 -

S&P 500** 2,872.9 -

NASDAQ Comp.** 7,505.8 -

Nikkei 225 23,629.3 0.0%

Hang Seng 40 32,966.9 -0.6%

Shanghai Comp 3,523.0 -1.0%

Kospi 2,598.2 0.9%

BSE Sensex 36,283.3 0.6%

S&P/ASX 200 6,075.4 0.4%

Current Values as at 11:15 BST, *%Chg from Friday Close, ** As on Friday Close

0.7%

1.5%

2.2%

2.0%

2.8%

-0.7%

2.3%

2.2%

2.1%

0.05%

-0.7%

-0.8%

Hammond says UK must seek ‘middle way’ in Brexit talks: Philip Hammond risked ending a fragile Tory truce on Europe as he called

for the UK to seek a “middle way” in Brexit talks. Hammond stated that Britain’s relationship with the EU should change only “very

modestly” after Brexit, the chancellor said there were camps on both side of the debate who oppose a “pragmatic” approach.

Japan's SoftBank hatches plan to take on PayPal: SoftBank, the Japanese technology colossus, is studying an audacious plan to

create a global digital payments system that could take on PayPal, Apple Pay and China’s Alipay.

Investors' questions mount over Rio Tinto’s OyuTolgoi Gobi-desert mine: Rio Tinto is facing renewed questions over its decision to

open a $12 billion (£8.5 billion) mine in the middle of the Gobi-desert. Jean-Sébastien Jacques, Rio’s Chief Executive, flew to

Mongolia last week for talks with the government amid escalating tension between the two sides.

Watchdog NAO probes East Coast rail blunder: The failure of the Virgin Trains East Coast rail franchise is to be investigated by the

government’s spending watchdog. The National Audit Office (NAO) has launched an investigation into the route, which runs

between London and Edinburgh, after transport secretary Chris Grayling admitted the deal with Stagecoach and Virgin will be torn

up early.

Spotify calls the tune with low-cost float: Now a Swedish upstart is coming to spoil the party. Spotify, the music streaming service, is

preparing to become the first company to attempt a “direct listing” on the NYSE. If all goes to plan, it will cut its fees dramatically.

Amazon’s $4 billion home lives up to its name: Transporting a 55ft tree from a farm in southern California to the centre of Seattle,

hoisting it by crane and dropping it through a hole in the roof was one of Amazon’s more challenging deliveries, as well as one of

the most eagerly anticipated.

HBOS fraud victims call for police action: The owners of small companies who lost their livelihoods in the scandal at HBOS in

Reading have asked Thames Valley Police to investigate claims that the scam was covered up.

Funding Circle heads for market: Funding Circle, the peer-to-peer lending platform, is planning to raise hundreds of millions of

pounds from a float this year partly to finance a marketing blitz in its biggest potential market, the United States.

Finance sector remains mired in gloom, but for some, clouds are lifting: Optimism among financial companies deteriorated for the

third quarter in a row in the final three months of last year, according to a closely watched survey that underscores the gloom

gripping banks, building societies and general insurers.

Commonwealth Bank picks head of retail as new Chief Executive: Commonwealth Bank of Australia has named Matt Comyn, the

head of its retail banking service, to replace outgoing Chief Executive Ian Narev after the bank admitted last month to multiple

breaches of money laundering and counter terrorism laws.

To Read More Click Here

Cargill hunts for scientists to use AI and sharpen trade edge: Cargill, the agricultural trading titan, is hiring data scientists to find

ways to profit from the scraps of information picked up as food commodities flow through its factories, silos and ports.

To Read More Click Here

VW faces UK group legal action over emissions scandal: Almost 60,000 people have signed up so far to sue German carmaker

Volkswagen Group over its emissions scandal in what is shaping up to be one of the biggest group actions to come before London’s

High Court.

To Read More Click Here

Dividend hopes help lift GlaxoSmithKline: GlaxoSmithKline was in demand as the FTSE 100 rallied from a one-month low. Redburn

turned positive on GlaxoSmithKline in part on the forecast of no dividend cut, even though the broker set its earnings forecasts

below consensus levels.

To Read More Click Here

BBC Women call for pay equality: A group that represents female BBC journalists and producers has called on the broadcaster to

“correct all unequal pay decisions” after several leading male news presenters voluntarily agreed to cut their pay.

To Read More Click Here

Carillion accused of ‘wriggling out’ of pension funding: Carillion has been accused of trying to “wriggle out” of its pension

obligations for a decade as new evidence given to MPs revealed the collapsed construction group’s pension shortfall near doubled to

nearly a billion in three years.

To Read More Click Here

CK Hutchison buys stake in Silicon Valley’s Matrixx Software: CK Hutchison, owner of the Three network, has acquired a stake in

Silicon Valley start-up Matrixx Software that develops systems designed to help telecoms companies sell digital goods and services.

To Read More Click Here

UK watchdog to investigate East Coast rail franchise decision: The UK government’s decision to allow two train companies to walk

away from running a rail franchise three years early after racking up losses is to be investigated by the country’s public spending

watchdog.

To Read More Click Here

MPs demand rate reform as high street retailers struggle to battle plummeting profits: The influential Treasury Select Committee has

intervened to call for an urgent review of business rates amid fears that some store chains are on the brink of collapse. The warning,

in a hard-hitting report sent to Chancellor Philip Hammond last week, follows a harrowing Christmas for many retailers.

Debenhams, Mothercare, Moss Bros, Card Factory and Carpetright all issued profit warnings after poor trading. Marks & Spencer,

Next and House of Fraser said sales in their shops are declining.

Owner's rejected bid for outright control hits hotel group Millennium & Copthorne's shares: Shares in Millennium & Copthorne

dived after shareholders rejected its billionaire owner's bid to take outright control. KwekLengBeng, the chairman of M&C who

already owns 65.2% of the hotel group through his investment vehicle City Developments Limited, had offered £2 billion to buy the

rest of the firm in December. But the bid drew criticism from minority shareholders International Value Advisers, MSD Partners and

Classic Fund Management, which claimed the offer, of 620p per share, was 'highly opportunistic' and played down the value of the

hotel chain's assets.

Fifty eight UK companies including Tesco and Vodafone join the 30% Club campaign to encourage female leadership: Fifty eight of

the UK’s largest companies have agreed to try and ensure 30% of their senior leadership teams are women by the end of 2020.

Those signed up to the 30% Club campaign group include Vodafone, Sainsbury’s and Tesco.

French luxury fashion firm Kering in talks to end 50-50 partnership with Stella McCartney: Pop scion Stella McCartney looks set to

take back control of her luxury fashion label. Joint venture partner Kering, the French luxury group, is reportedly considering selling

her its 50% stake as it streamlines its group.

Japanese tech giant Softbank mobile eyes £12.7 billion dual listing in London and Tokyo: Japanese tech giant Softbank looks set to

list its mobile phone business in both London and Tokyo. The firm is understood to have selected bankers at Citi and Mizuho to lead

on the £12.7 billion flotation.

British Airways announces £4.5 billion revamp amid growing criticism over its budget-style service: Flag-carrier airline British Airways

is investing £4.5 billion to turn itself around amid growing criticism it is offering a budget airline experience despite higher ticket

prices.

Carillion made £500 million in revenue from selling PFI projects and netted annual returns of up to 39%, research finds: Carillion

made £500 million in revenue from selling off Private Finance Initiative (PFI) projects between 2003 and 2011, with many deals

handing the construction firm returns of more than 15% per year.

Carillion: 300 smaller rail suppliers to bankrupt firm will be paid arrears they are owed after agreement reached: Around 300 smaller

rail suppliers to collapsed construction giant Carillion are to be paid the arrears they are owed, it has been announced. An

agreement between the Official Receiver's special manager, PwC, and Network Rail (NR) covers arrears from Christmas to 15

January when the company went into liquidation.

Brexit: Goldman Sachs close to making irreversible moves from UK to Europe, says CEO Lloyd Blankfein: Goldman Sachs is reaching

a point in its Brexit contingency planning where it will have made irreversible moves out of the UK, the bank’s chief executive has

said. Lloyd Blankfein told the BBC that Goldman Sachs had rented about ten floors of office space in Frankfurt because he estimates

that is the amount the bank will need to house its increased headcount in the German financial hub.

Brexit: UK economy could be helped by 'deeper relationship' with Europe, says Mark Carney: Bank of England governor Mark

Carney says a “deeper relationship” with Europe could benefit the UK economy. Mr Carney told the BBC that the UK economy had

suffered a “Brexit effect” since the vote to leave the European Union.

UK restaurant sales up over two years as London lags behind: UK restaurants raked in over £40 billion last year as turnover for

restaurants outside London grew at a faster rate than the capital, a new study shows.

Ikea Founder Ingvar Kamprad dies aged 91: The company said Kamprad, whom it described as “one of the greatest entrepreneurs

of the 20th century”, had “peacefully passed away at his home”.

National Audit Office to investigate East Coast rail 'bailout': A controversial decision to allow two companies to hand back a rail

franchise three years early is to be investigated by Britain’s public spending watchdog. Chris Grayling, the transport secretary, was

accused of effectively bailing out Stagecoach and Virgin’s joint venture Virgin Trains East Coast by allowing them to cut short their

deal to run trains on the East Coast mainline. The termination of the franchise came after projected growth in passengers fai led to

materialise. The decision means that the companies were freed from paying around £1.50 billion in premiums to the Treasury,

though some of the money will be recouped when a new operator is put in place. Virgin and Stagecoach complained that promised

upgrades to the line had been delayed.

Nail-biting drama for Sky and Disney as new rivals eye entertainment arena: One of the biggest surprises about Rupert Murdoch’s

decision to sell his entertainment assets to Disney was his willingness to part company with Sky, the UK’s biggest pay-TV

broadcaster. But some analysts are now asking whether Disney, which has agreed to buy a 39% stake in Sky as part of a $66 bil lion

deal to buy most of the tycoon’s 21st Century Fox group, needs the pay-TV arm either. This concern lingers in the background as

the UK competition regulator mulls Fox’s attempt to take full control of Sky – a deal that is still going ahead in parallel with the

Disney transaction. Murdoch’s £11.7 billion bid to buy Sky is still in doubt after the Competition and Markets Authority said the deal

could be blocked because it would give his family too much influence over the UK news media.

Bombardier wins fight against huge tariffs on aircraft imports: Thousands of jobs in Northern Ireland appear to have been saved

after plane maker Bombardier won a legal battle in the US that has overturned damaging import tariffs on its C-series aircraft. The

US International Trade Commission (ITC) voted unanimously against Boeing in favour of its Canadian rival Bombardier after Donald

Trump’s administration had threatened to impose duties of 292%.

Monday,

29 January 2018

US: Personal Income (MoM), Personal Spending,

Personal Consumption Expenditure Core (MoM),

Personal Consumption Expenditure Core (YoY),

Personal Consumption Expenditure Deflator

(MoM), Personal Consumption Expenditure

Deflator (YoY), Dallas Fed Manufacturing

Business Index

Final Results: Porvair, SThree

Interim Results: Conviviality

Trading Announcements: Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI),

Yu Group

Tuesday,

30 January 2018

UK: M4 Ex IOFCs 3M Annualised, M4 Money

Supply (MoM), M4 Money Supply (YoY), Net

Consumer Credit, Net Lending Sec. on Dwellings,

Mortgage Approvals, BOE's Governor Carney

speech

US:S&P/Case-Shiller Composite-20 (YoY), S&P/

Case-Shiller Home Price Index, S&P/Case-Shiller

Composite-20 City Home Price Index (YoY), S&P/

Case-Shiller 20 City s.a. (MoM), Consumer

Confidence

EU: Gross Domestic Product s.a., Gross Domestic

Product s.a. (QoQ), Gross Domestic Product s.a.

(YoY), Business Climate Indicator, Consumer

Confidence, Economic Sentiment Indicator,

Industrial Confidence, Services Sentiment

Indicator, ECB's Mersch speaks in Frankfurt

Final Results: Oxford Biodynamics,

Interim Results: Filtronic, NWF Group, PZ Cussons,

Joules Group

Trading Announcements: Avocet Mining, CYBG,

Domino's Pizza Group, Restore, UDG Healthcare

Public Limited Company

Wednesday,

31 January 2018

UK: BRC Shop Price Index (YoY), Lloyds Business

Barometer, GfK Consumer Confidence

US: President Trump Speech, MBA Mortgage

Applications, MBA Purchase Index s.a. (Current

Change), MBA Refinance Index (Current

Change), MBA Market Index, MBA Purchase

Index s.a., MBA Refinance Index, ADP

Employment Change, Employment Cost Index

(YoY), Employee Cost Index, Employment Cost

Index (QoQ), DOE US Refinery Utilization,

Chicago PMI, Pending Home Sales (YoY),

Pending Home Sales, Pending Home Sales

(MoM), DOE Cushing OK Crude Inventory

(Barrels), DOE Distillate Inventory, DOE Gasoline

Inventories, EIA Crude Oil Stocks Change

(Barrels), Fed Interest Rate Decision, Fed's

Monetary Policy Statement

EU: ECB Balance sheet, Unemployment Rate,

Consumer Price Index - Core (YoY), Consumer

Price Index (YoY)

Final Results: Centamin (DI), Low & Bonar,

Infrastrata

Interim Results: Angle, Best of the Best, Joules

Group

Trading Announcements: Britvic, Dairy Crest Group,

SSE, Flybe Group

Quarterly: Wizz Air Holdings

Thursday,

01 February 2018

UK: Markit Manufacturing PMI

US: Challenger Job Cuts (YoY), Initial Jobless

Claims, Non-Farm Productivity, Unit Labour

Costs, Continuing Jobless Claims, Markit

Manufacturing PMI, Construction Spending s.a.,

ISM Employment, ISM Prices Paid, ISM Backlog

Orders, ISM Inventories, ISM Production, ISM

New Orders, ISM Imports, ISM New Export

Orders, Construction Spending (MoM), ISM

Manufacturing PMI, EIA Natural Gas Storage

Change, Domestic Vehicle Sales, Total Vehicle

Sales

EU: Markit Manufacturing PMI

Final Results: Royal Dutch Shell 'A', Royal Dutch

Shell 'B', Unilever

Interim Results: Rank Group

Trading Announcements: 3i Group, Barr (A.G.),

Clarke (T.), Cranswick, Euromoney Institutional

Investor, Glencore, Intermediate Capital Group,

Vodafone Group

Friday,

02 February 2018

UK: Markit Construction PMI

US: Labour Force Participation Rate, Change in

Household Employment, Change in

Manufacturing Payrolls, Change in Non-farm

Payrolls, Change in Private Payrolls, Average

Hourly Earnings, Change in Service Payrolls,

Average Weekly Hours All Employees Net

Change, Average Hourly Earnings All Employees

(MoM), Average Hourly Earnings All Employees

(YoY), Unemployment Rate, Underemployment

Rate, Manufacturer's New Orders: Durable

Goods Ex Defence, Manufacturer's New Orders:

Durable Goods, Manufacturers' New Orders: Non

-Defense Capital Goods, Manufacturer's Total

Orders, Capital Goods Orders Nondef Ex Air,

Capital Goods Ship Nondef Ex Air, Durable

Goods Orders, Durable Goods Orders ex

Transportation, Factory Orders (MoM), Reuters/

Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index, Baker

Hughes US Rig Count

EU: PPI Excluding Energy (MoM), PPI Excluding

Energy (YoY), Producer Price Index (MoM),

Producer Price Index (YoY), PPI: Industry

Final Results: AstraZeneca

Trading Announcements: Gem Diamonds Ltd. (DI)

Quarterly: BT Group