Following a volatile week in markets, investors ready for further triggers as they look to next week’s Brexit vote, US data and the latest monetary policy decision from the European Central Bank, while also monitoring trade developments.

Wall Street chalked up its biggest weekly drop since March following another sell-off on Friday, spurred by concerns over the durability of the trade truce between the US and China and a dimming outlook for the global economy.

A Greek financial prosecutor has filed criminal charges against three members of the Koutsolioutsos family, founders of Folli Follie, the Athens-listed jewellery retailer facing collapse over a $1bn alleged fraud reported earlier this year.

US activist investor Elliott has built a stake in Bayer, in a move that could raise pressure on management to step up disposals or even push for a split of the sprawling chemicals and pharmaceuticals group.

Shares in US generic drugmaker Akorn dropped 21 per cent on Friday after a US court upheld its decision to allow Germany’s Fresenius to walk away from a $4.8bn takeover of the company.

Declines on Wall Street had piled up by midday with global growth-exposed stocks turning sharply and putting the S&P 500 on track for its biggest weekly drop since the sharp tech-led sell-off of October.

The boss of Ted Baker accused of giving unwanted hugs to employees has taken a leave of absence amid claims of further inappropriate behaviour.

Danske Bank completed its clear-out of top officials as it voted in a new chairman who needs to steer Denmark’s largest lender through several criminal investigations into its €200bn money laundering scandal and find a new chief executive.

The Apple price cut club welcomed a new member on Friday after Morgan Stanley blamed the Chinese smartphone market for weakening the outlook for iPhone sales.

Switzerland faces the threat of financial sanctions from the EU after failing on Friday to endorse a deal aligning the small Alpine nation more closely with the bloc.

Oil bulls were back in force on Friday after Opec’s move to cut output by 1.2m barrels per day sent crude prices surging more than 5 per cent and helped bolster currencies of oil producing countries.

The Canadian dollar jumped on Friday after the country added a record number of jobs, which helped ease some of the recent concerns over the strength of the economy amid a fresh slump in crude prices.

Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer has topped a first round of voting in the contest to succeed Angela Merkel as leader of Germany’s Christian Democrat Union.

The broader US market was struggling for traction after the opening bell on Friday, after a volatile week of trading dominated by concerns over the durability of the trade truce between the US and China and whether the outlook for global growth may result in the Federal Reserve dialling back its expected pace of interest rate increases next year.

Heightened concerns over the impending parliamentary vote on Brexit has cranked up the nerves in currency markets, with signs that investors are bracing for the possibility of an immediate shock.

Grant Thornton’s partners have seen pay slump by 8 per cent in the latest financial year, reflecting difficulties during the period for the UK’s fifth largest accounting firm.

Treasury yields, which move inversely to price, whipsawed on Friday morning as investors digested the latest jobs report which saw wage growth hold steady despite a sharp slowdown in hiring in November.

US stock futures pointed lower on Friday ahead of monthly data on the health of the labour market.

Marlboro cigarettes maker Altria has struck a deal to take a stake in Canadian marijuana company Cronos for C$2.4bn ($1.86bn), as part of the tobacco giant’s efforts to diversify its business away traditional smokers.

Brazil’s inflation rate slowed in November, according to new data which sharpen market expectations that the central bank will hold rates steady at next week’s meeting.

Four expatriates have begun a High Court legal challenge arguing a judge should declare the result of the 2016 Brexit referendum invalid because electoral rules on overspending were broken.

Yan Dunning, chief executive of Lenta, Russia’s largest hypermarket chain, has left the company after nearly a decade, the company said on Friday.

Fresenius was on course for its worst share price fall in twenty years on Friday after the German healthcare group issued a profit warning.

Nissan has said it will issue a recall for about 150,000 vehicles in Japan due to improper inspections for brakes and steering in the latest scandal to hit the carmaker following the arrest of its ex-chairman Carlos Ghosn.