Friday preview: Fed's Powell, US price data in focus

All eyes at the end of the week will be on US Federal Reserve President Jerome Powell's speech at the central banking symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Over the preceding days and weeks financial markets appeared to shift towards expectations that he would defend a line of "higher for longer" on interest rates.

Nonetheless, there remained those who believed that his speech would be nuanced enough so as not to unnerve investors.

Powell was scheduled to take to the podium at 1500 BST.

Ahead of his remarks, at 1330 BST the Department of Commerce would publish personal income and spending data for July.

Contained in that same report will be price gauges that economists at Barclays Research expect will reveal slower inflation at both the headline and core levels.

Following that report, at 1500 BST the University of Michigan is scheduled to release the final reading for its consumer confidence survey for the month of August, which also contains closely-followed gauges for consumers' inflation expectations.

In the euro area, a spate of readings for monthly consumer confidence are scheduled for release.

Those for Germany and France will be published at 0700 BST and 0745 BST, respectively, followed by another out of Italy at 0900 BST.

Also due out is a reading for euro area M3 money supply growth in July, also at 0900 BST.

No major economic releases are awaited in the UK.

Further afield, in Japan, investors will be keeping an eye out for a reading on consumer prices, excluding perishables, in Tokyo, for the month of August.

Thursday 25 August

INTERIMS

Anglo Pacific Group, CRH (CDI), Faron Pharmaceuticals Oy (DI), Grafton Group Ut (CDI), Hunting, Macfarlane Group, PureTech Health

INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE

Schroders, Schroders (Non-Voting)

INTERIM EX-DIVIDEND DATE

Arbuthnot Banking Group, Breedon Group , Capital & Counties Properties , Convatec Group , Drax Group, FDM Group (Holdings), Foxtons Group , Glanbia (CDI), Mondi, NATWEST GROUP PLC ORD 100P, OSB Group , Phoenix Group Holdings , Plus500 Ltd (DI), RHI Magnesita N.V. (DI), Rights & Issues Investment Trust , Scotgems, Secure Trust Bank, Sherborne Investors (Guernsey) C Limited NPV, St James's Place

QUARTERLY PAYMENT DATE

Tetragon Financial Group Limited

QUARTERLY EX-DIVIDEND DATE

ContourGlobal , HICL Infrastructure , Land Securities Group, NB Global Monthly Income Fund Limited Red Ord Shs NPV £, Wheaton Precious Metals Corp.NPV (CDI)

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS

Continuing Claims (US) (13:30)

GDP (Preliminary) (US) (13:30)

Gross Domestic Product (GER) (07:00)

IFO Business Climate (GER) (09:00)

IFO Current Assessment (GER) (09:00)

IFO Expectations (GER) (09:00)

Initial Jobless Claims (US) (13:30)

Q3

Benchmark Holdings

GMS

NATWEST GROUP PLC ORD 100P

FINALS

Hays, Morses Club

AGMS

Nuformix, Triple Point Energy Efficiency Infrastructure Company

FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE

QinetiQ Group

FINAL EX-DIVIDEND DATE

Appreciate Group, Argentex Group , Auto Trader Group , Biffa, Brickability Group , Cake Box Holdings, Cohort, Diageo, First Property Group, Henderson Smaller Companies Inv Trust, LendInvest , XPS Pensions Group