On Monday, Energy group AWE Limited (AWE) lifted by 16pc after receiving a second takeover offer in less than a week. Australia based Mineral Resources (MIN) launched a ~$484m scrip offer (offering shares rather than cash). This is around 10pc above an offer made last week by a Chinese based company. AWE ended the week on $0.83.

Also on Monday, Infant formula group, Bubs (BUB) rose 3.3pc after easily raising its desired $5m from shareholders to help pay for the purchase of Nulac Foods. $28.7m in applications were received from investors, which means it was oversubscribed by five times. BUB ended the week on $0.76.

On Tuesday, Tatts (TTS) announced an 18pc lift in profits over the past five months ahead of its proposed merger with Tabcorp (TAH). TAH completed the sale of its Odyssey Gaming Services business, which was a requirement from the Australian Competition Tribunal before allowing the tie-up to continue. TTS ended the week on $4.61.

Westfield Corporation (WFD) emerged from Tuesday’s trading halt to charge higher by 13.7pc. The gains were driven by overnight news that WFD will be acquired by French property giant Unibail-Rodamco for $32.74 billion. The deal price translates to $10.01 per share. Scentre Group (SCG) which manages Westfield’s Australian and New Zealand centres also closed 1.6pc higher.

On Thursday, Australia’s competition regulator, the ACCC had opposed BP’s planned acquisition of Woolworth’s (WOW) 531 petrol stations claiming petrol prices would rise if Woolworths was no longer in the picture.

At the close of weekly trading, the gold price finished at $1,258.40 per ounce, the WTI oil price traded at $57.37 a barrel, and the Australian dollar was worth US $0.7643. In the US on Friday night, the Dow Jones finished down 76.77 points to end the week $24,508.66. The Share Price Index (SPI) finished up 29 points at $6,037 which should lead to a positive start to today’s trade.