Friday preview: Geopolitics, UK retail sales in focus

Investors' focus at the weekend will be squarely on geopolitics.

Heading into the weekend, investors will be trying to gather more information on the magnitude of the Israeli response overnight to Iran's strike a week before.

They will also be monitoring for the response out of Tehran.

Against that backdrop, at 0600 BST the Office for National Statistics will release retail sales data for the month of March.

Across the Channel, the spotlight will be on German producer price figures for March.

No major economic reports were scheduled in the U.S..

Worth noting, G-7 foreign affairs ministers meeting in Italy at the weekend were expected to work towards further sanctions on Iran, which in turn some had hoped would temper Israel's response to Iran's attack.

Friday 19 April

INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE

Thorpe (F.W.)

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS

Producer Price Index (GER) (07:00)

AGMS

Murray International Trust, Nostrum Oil & Gas , Symphony Environmental Technologies, Uniphar (CDI)

UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS

GFK Consumer Confidence (00:01)

Retail Sales (07:00)

FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE

Heavitree Brewery, Heavitree Brewery 'A' Shares