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Head over to our US site for more market moving news. Happy Friday!

Vicky McKeever writes:

Earnings season is starting to wind down but there are still a number of companies due to report in the coming week.

Investors' apparent disappointment with Nvidia's (NVDA) latest earnings weighed on other chipmakers, setting a more downbeat tone ahead of Broadcom (AVGO) reporting on Thursday.

As stubborn inflation remains a concern, investors will be looking to Costco's (COST) latest results to help gauge shopper sentiment, while in China, e-commerce company JD.com (9618.HK, JD) is due to report as the threat of additional US trade tariffs looms.

Elsewhere, guidance for financial performance in 2025 will be the focus for investors when Adidas (ADS.DE) releases its full-year results.

Back in the UK, investors will be keen to learn more about Greggs' (GRG.L) outlook for 2025, given the bakery chain's recent slower sales growth.

Read more on Yahoo Finance UK

Axel Rudolph, senior technical analyst at online trading platform IG, said:

The Financial Conduct Authority said on Friday it has started criminal proceedings against Kerry Nelson and Jacqueline Stephens for alleged fraud, forgery, and money laundering.

Nelson was director of both Nexus Independent Financial Advisers Limited (Nexus IFA) and Nexus Investment Managers Limited (Nexus IM). Stephens was Business Operations Manager at the same firms.

Nelson and Stephens have been charged with allegedly defrauding four clients between January 2019 and January 2023, who lost £2m. They are also charged with using false documents in the process of committing the alleged fraud.

Nelson has also been charged with a further money laundering offence, after money was allegedly withdrawn from the firms. The FCA claims that the funds transferred from the accounts by Nelson were used to fund her extravagant lifestyle.

Nelson and Stephens appeared before Portsmouth Magistrates’ Court on 28 February 2025.

Nelson has pleaded not guilty to all offences and Stephens gave no indication of plea at this time. The matter was sent to Portsmouth Crown Court and their next appearance will be on 31 March 2025. Both individuals have been released on conditional bail.

Microsoft (MSFT) said on Friday it would shut down video calling app Skype, as it intends to focus on Microsoft Teams.

Skype loyalists will have until 5 May to say their goodbyes. It's the end of an era for one of the stalwarts of the online communications space.

Microsoft bid against Google and Facebook to buy Skype in 2011 for $8.5bn (£6.7bn) — its largest deal at the time. At the time the service had around 150 million monthly users. By 2020, that number had fallen to roughly 23 million.

"Skype has been an integral part of shaping modern communications," said Microsoft. "We are honored to have been part of the journey."

Our US team reports:

The latest reading of the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge showed prices rose on a monthly basis but dropped year over year, which should keep interest rates on hold when the central bank meets next in March.

The "core" personal consumption expenditures (PCE) index, which strips out food and energy costs, rose 0.3% from the prior month during January, but that rise was in line with expectations. Prices rose 0.2% in December.

On an annual basis, core prices rose 2.6% year-over-year, which was also in line with expectations. That was down from the annual increase of 2.9% in December.

Read more on Yahoo Finance

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Faisal Sheikh, managing director at Monmouth Capital, said:

Yahoo Finance UK's Pedro Goncalves writes:

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) has experienced a sharp decline, plummeting by 25% over the past month as broader market uncertainty continues to impact the cryptocurrency landscape.

This week, bitcoin (BTC-USD) fell below $80,000 for the first time since November, dropping as much as 7.1% in a single day. The cryptocurrency’s low of $78,956 marks a stark contrast to the highs of over $109,000 reached just a month ago.

Caroline Bowler, CEO of BTC Markets, pointed out that the current market sentiment mirrors the crisis of 2022 when prices collapsed during the so-called “crypto winter” amid rising interest rates and the collapse of the FTX exchange.

She added that the recent downturn could be linked to broader macroeconomic fears, including concerns surrounding Trump’s tariffs and escalating geopolitical tensions.

“This tanking can be viewed as a response to macro fears on Trump’s tariffs and geopolitical uncertainty,” Bowler said.

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) is now on track for its worst month in three years. The last time the largest cryptocurrency fell as much as June 2022, when it fell by more than a third. This week alone, BTC has dropped almost 18%, the steepest slide since the week ended Nov. 13 of the same year.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said:

Yahoo Finance UK's Vicky McKeever writes:

Gold (GC=F) prices continued to decline on Friday, as a stronger dollar put pressure on the precious metal.

The US dollar index (DX-Y.NYB), which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, looked set to make a weekly gain. Given that gold tends to be priced in dollars, a stronger greenback makes the precious metal more expensive for foreign buyers.

Investors were also waiting for the release of the US PCE data, for signals on what this means for the direction of inflation and interest rates.

Gold is considered to act as a hedge against higher inflation, but if stubborn inflation prompts the US Federal Reserve to keep rates higher for longer, this could weaken the appeal of bullion as a non-yielding asset.

According to a Reuters report, IG market strategist Yeap Jun Rong, said: "While gold is deemed as a safe-haven, the uncertainty on the trade front may still see profit-taking activities extend further, amid a stronger U.S. dollar."

International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG.L) stock rose around 3.7% as markets opened in London, as traders look to quarterly results showing its operating profit surged by 22.1% last year to €4.3bn (£3.6bn).

The latest figures are an increase from €3.5bn (£2.9bn) in 2023.

Its passenger revenue per available seat kilometre flown increased by 3.1%, while fuel costs per unit declined by 5.2%, PA reported.

US stocks were slightly higher in premarket trade, after feeling the pressure during the week.

Ben Parks, managing director at Orchard Financial Services, said:

Steve Humphrey, founder at The Mortgage Pod, said:

UK house prices rose in February to £270,493 as buyers rush to beat the April stamp duty deadline.

The average UK house price increased month-on-month for the sixth month in a row, according to Nationwide Building Society. Property values increased by 0.4% month-on-month in February.

However, the annual rate of house price growth dropped slightly, rising 3.9% in February compared to 4.1% in January.

Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist, said: “House prices increased by 0.4% month-on-month, after taking account of seasonal effects – the sixth consecutive monthly gain.

“Housing market activity has also remained resilient in recent months, despite ongoing affordability challenges. Indeed, the second half of 2024 saw a noticeable pick-up in total housing transactions, which were up 14% compared with the same period in 2023.”

Read more on Yahoo Finance UK

From our US team:

Stocks plummeted on Thursday as tech sold off following Nvidia's (NVDA) latest earnings report while investors took stock of the economy amid President Trump's latest tariff pledges.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) fell more than 1.6%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) dropped 2.8%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) dropped 0.4%.

Investors dug into Nvidia's quarterly earnings beat, which signalled plenty of scope for growth as it eased worries about DeepSeek and faltering AI demand. The results initially met a muted response as its profit outlook raised doubts on Wall Street. Nvidia's stock erased early morning gains to drop more than 8%.

Meanwhile, more signs emerged of a sluggish US economy. Data released Thursday showed GDP grew at an unrevised 2.3% annualized pace last quarter, confirming a slowdown from the previous quarter. Weekly initial jobless claims jumped to 242,000, higher than the 221,000 expected by economists in a sign of a softening labor market.

Hello from London. Lucy Harley-McKeown here, ready to bring the markets news of the day.

Overnight we had news out of Washington. prime minister Kier Starmer met president Donald Trump to talk tech and trade. In a press conference last night the pair said they would continue talks on tariffs.

This morning we've also had the latest on house prices from Nationwide, with more property transaction data coming later on.

The corporate calendar is looking less interesting today, following Nvidia (NVDA) results on Wednesday.

Let's get to it.