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4.30pm: London dips

The FTSE 100 closed 17.39 points lower at 7,929.79, off its lows for the day, as disappointing Chinese growth outlook hurt mining stocks.

8.30am: Gilson Gray deal

Law firm Gilson Gray has acquired The Law Practice which will expand its offering in Aberdeen.

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7am: AssetCo acquires India fund

Martin Gilbert’s AssetCo has acquired Ocean Dial Asset Management from Avendus Capital Asset Management (UK) Limited in a £4.2 million cash and shares deal.

Ocean Dial was established in 2005 and is wholly owned by Avendus Capital Asset Management (UK) Limited. Ocean Dial’s current business is the management of the assets of the India Capital Growth Fund which has a net asset value in excess of £127m and an annualised run rate revenue of £1.4m.

The fund has been advised for several years by Guarav Narain and his team, based in India.

Mr Gilbert, chairman, said: “We are excited about the long-term potential that India offers and see opportunities to add value by bringing Ocean Dial together with the other active equity asset management businesses we are combining under the River and Mercantile brand.”  

7am: Craneware

Craneware, the Edinburgh-based software company focused on the US health sector, said it remains confident of delivering accelerated growth despite wage-driven inflation eating into its b business last year.

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7am: Macfarlane deal

Macfarlane Group has acquired A.E. Sutton, trading as Suttons Performance Packaging, a specialist protective packaging manufacturing business based in Cambridgeshire in a £9 million deal.

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Global markets

Federal Reserve chair Jay Powell’s testimony to US lawmakers tomorrow and Wednesday is likely to offer clues on how he sees the US economy in light of recent strong data.

The next Federal Open Market Committee meeting is on March 21 and 22.

China’s economy is expected to grow “around 5%”, outgoing Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said as he opened this year’s National People’s Congress in Beijing. 

The country plans to increase its military spending by 7.2% this year in response to geopolitical uncertainties, according to a draft budget.

The Shanghai Composite was down 0.3%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was up 0.3%.

The Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo closed up 1.1%.

Sterling was quoted at $1.2025 early today, firming from $1.1979 at the London equities close on Friday.