Friday preview: UK retail sales, NatWest Group in the spotlight

The market spotlight at the end of the week was likely to shift back towards the UK.

At 0700 GMT, the Office for National Statistics was scheduled to release retail sales figures for the month of January (consensus: -0.3%).

In the euro area meanwhile, the focus would on inflation.

Against that backdrop, at 1330 GMT the US Department of Labor would publish import price figures for January, together with the Conference Board's index of leading economic indicators covering that same month at 1500 GMT.

At 0700 GMT, Germany's Finance ministry would publish producer price data for the country in January with a final reading for French CPI in that same month set to follow at 0745 GMT.

On the corporate side of things, NatWest Group is due to report its full-year numbers as its shares bump up against its May 2018 highs.

The lender reported a quarter-on-quarter slowdown in profitability for over the three months to September but due to one-offs, in a move that Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK, labelled "sensible planning".

At it last update, NatWest guided towards full-year total income of around £12.8bn with its net interest margin seen improving to 2.8%.

Friday 17 February

INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE

Solid State

QUARTERLY PAYMENT DATE

JPMorgan Asia Growth & Income, JPMorgan Japan Small Cap Growth & Income

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS

Current Account (EU) (09:00)

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

Q4

NATWEST GROUP

FINALS

Allianz Technology Trust, NATWEST GROUP, SEGRO

ANNUAL REPORT

NATWEST GROUP

SPECIAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE

ICG-Longbow Senior Secured UK Property Debt Investments Ltd

AGMS

Sunrise Resources

UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS

Retail Sales (07:00)

FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE

AJ Bell, Focusrite, Victrex plc