1. NatWest beat expectations as interest rates expected to rise
The FTSE 100 lender, the last of its blue-chip peer group to report, revealed it made £841mln of attributable profit in the first three months of 2022,
2. US tech sector’s 16-month low consolidated further by Amazon’s poor quarterly results
Amazon fell well short of expectations, with a first quarterly net loss since 2015, of US$3.8bn, as operating profits fell for the third quarter in a row
3. FTSE 100 closes higher on lacklustre US day
The UK blue-chip index ended 35.36 points, or 0.5% higher on Friday at 7,544.55, below the session peak of 7,569.80 but above the day’s low of 7,509.19.
4. Greencoat UK Wind excels on higher wholesale electricity prices
Greencoat UK Wind stands out from the peer group as the only pure play wind trust exposed solely to the UK
5. ARM Holdings IPO is back on after rogue China boss removed
After NVIDIA pulled out of its US$40bn takeover bid, Softbank had been unwilling to pursue an IPO while its 49% owned Chinese joint venture remained in flux