Investors will cast an exacting eye over results from Britain's biggest grocer Tesco and bookseller WH Smith this week, while the broader UK market may be hamstrung by the prospect of rising US interest rates.
Elsewhere insurer Prudential kicks off the sector's new business figures reporting season on Wednesday, while Allied Domecq will focus attention on the drinks industry when it issues first-half numbers on Thursday.
Analysts said concerns over the prospect of rising interest rates in the United States may continue to thwart the market's progress in the near term.
Blue-chips on both sides of the Atlantic have faltered recently as a stream of robust economic data fed expectations the Federal Reserve will hike rates to cool off the economy. UK stocks have more or less priced in a rate rise in May.
Given the heightened awareness over rates, a fresh batch of domestic and US economic events will be scanned closely, including durable goods and jobless figures and a speech from Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan.
"We've had a flow of incredibly strong data from the US over the course of the last month or so. All eyes will be on what the data means for interest rates," said Robert Parkes, UK equity strategist at HBSC.
In the UK inflation figures and the minutes of the Bank of England's latest interest rate meeting will also command attention.
By midsession on Friday the FTSE 100 index was up 0.4 percent at 4,525.5 points - its best intraday level in more than a month. Although the index has made little headway since the start of the year, it has risen 16 percent over the past twelve months.
Elsewhere, a host of companies, including house-builders Wimpey and Persimmon and oil giant Shell, will hold annual shareholder meetings this week. Many companies are expected to give an update on current trading.
The resurgent dollar should also put the spotlight on the dollar earners, such as drug-makers GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca and food and consumer products company Unilever.
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