Friday preview: UK retail sales, euro area consumer confidence in focus
The market spotlight at the end of the week will be on UK retail sales figures for the month of April, as economists try to discern how the consumer is holding up and reacting to the uncertainty at home and overseas.
Consensus is for retail sales to be flat month-on-month and 6.6% lower in annual terms. The figures will be released by the Office for National Statistics at 0700 GMT.
Also due out, a minute past midnight, is a reading on UK consumer confidence for the month of May, courtesy of consultancy GfK.
Across the Channel meanwhile, at 1500 GMT Eurostat will release the preliminary results of its consumer confidence survey for the euro area in May.
Before that, at 1300 GMT, European Central Bank chief economist, Philip Lane, is due to speak at a session on "Macro-bridging policies - effectiveness and costs" at a Nobel Symposium in Economics on "Covid-19 and the Economy: Policies and impacts".
No major economic releases are scheduled in the US.
Further afield, overnight, the People's Bank of China is seen trimming its one-year loan rate by five basis points to 3.65%.
In Japan, the Statistics Bureau will release consumer price data for April excluding perishables.
Friday 20 May
INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
AB Dynamics, Provident Financial, Seneca Growth Capital Vct B
QUARTERLY PAYMENT DATE
Primary Health Properties, Tufton Oceanic Assets Limited NPV
INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
Producer Price Index (GER) (07:00)
FINALS
Wincanton
ANNUAL REPORT
Billington Holdings, Dillistone Group
SPECIAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
Glencore
AGMS
Bank of Cyprus Holdings Public Limited Company (CDI), Georgia Capital , Keywords Studios, Keywords Studios, Public Joint Stock Company Severstal GDR (Reg S), Real Estate Investors, Reckitt Benckiser Group, Resolute Mining Limited NPV (DI)
TRADING ANNOUNCEMENTS
Close Brothers Group
UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
GFK Consumer Confidence (00:01)
Retail Sales (07:00)
FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
Breedon Group , Central Asia Metals, Howden Joinery Group, JPMorgan US Smaller Co. Inv Tst, Jupiter Fund Management , Luceco , Man Group, Maven Income & Growth 4 VCT, Melrose Industries, Morgan Advanced Materials , Personal Group Holdings, Robert Walters, Rotork, RPS Group, Spirax-Sarco Engineering, Tclarke , TT Electronics, Unite Group, Vitec Group