Friday preview: Chinese foreign trade data, US consumer confidence in focus

Investors' focus at the end of the week will shift towards Asia-Pacific.

Overnight, China's National Bureau of Statistics will release foreign trade figures for the month of March.

Those will provide investors with a better sense of the pace of the country's economic recovery - or not.

Against that backdrop, at 0600 BST the Office for National Statistics will publish gross domestic product data for the month of February.

In the euro area, final readings on consumer prices for the month of March in France, Germany and Spain are all due out.

Stateside financial markets' attention will be on the preliminary results for the University of Michigan's consumer confidence survey covering the month of April at 1400 BST.

Friday 12 April

INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE

Abrdn UK Smaller Companies Growth Trust, Galliford Try, Tristel

QUARTERLY PAYMENT DATE

Alpha Real Trust Ltd., Duke Capital Limited, Land Securities Group

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS

Consumer Price Index (GER) (07:00)

Import and Export Price Indices (US) (13:30)

U. of Michigan Confidence (Prelim) (US) (15:00)

SPECIAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE

Lancashire Holdings Limited

AGMS

Sigmaroc

UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS

Balance of Trade (07:00)

Gross Domestic Product (07:00)

Index of Services (07:00)

Industrial Production (07:00)

Manufacturing Production (07:00)

FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE

Chemring Group, IDOX, LPA Group