London investors will focus next week on crucial details of a eurozone crisis rescue plan, alongside company results from the likes of British energy majors BP and Royal Shell Shell. The FTSE 100 index of leading shares rose 0.41 percent from a week earlier to finish at 5,488.65 points on Friday after very volatile trade.
European leaders are holding a key summit on Sunday in Brussels, where they will discuss how to contain the region's debt crisis, amid talk of a rift between France and Germany over how to boost the eurozone rescue fund. Ahead of the event, it was announced that a second meeting will be held next Wednesday to outline detailed proposals to resolve Europe's long-running sovereign debt problems.
The eurozone debt drama has already resulted in enormous bailouts for Greece, Ireland and Portugal, while concerns are lingering over the plight of other debt-laden member nations such as Italy and Spain.
"Ahead of the Wednesday meet, the market will continue to attempt to double-guess the outcome as details trickle through," said Richard Hunter at Hargreaves Lansdown Stockbrokers in London. "Sentiment is therefore likely to remain fragile - although on a positive note there are glimpses of increasing optimism that the nettle is at last being grasped."
Elsewhere next week, British oil giant BP and energy producer BG Group will unveil their third-quarter results on Tuesday, followed by Royal Dutch Shell and Cairn Energy on Thursday.
It will also be a busy week for the pharmaceuticals sector, with GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca posting their third quarter numbers on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.
However, investors will remain focused on the eurozone debt crisis that has loomed large over global financial markets for months. "The European situation remains the only game in town for investors and, for the moment, continues to overshadow the third-quarter reporting season in the US, which is now in full flight, and the third quarter numbers in the UK, which start to ramp up next week," Hunter told AFP.
"Of those UK corporates reporting, there will be interest in the fortunes of the oil and pharmaceutical giants BP and Shell, Glaxo and AstraZeneca." Results are also due from publisher Pearson, household goods group Reckitt Benckiser, cigarette giant British American Tobacco and global advertising bellwether WPP.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.