British investors will track the eurozone crisis next week, after a crucial G20 finance meeting over the weekend, and will also pore over a stream of key economic data and company results. The FTSE 100 index of leading shares rallied 3.07 percent over the week to finish at 5,466.36 points on Friday, lifted by talk of a possible resolution to the eurozone's long-running sovereign debt drama.
Experts hope that G20 finance ministers will inspire leaders at the upcoming EU summit on October 23 to fix the region's crisis once and for all.
"There may be limited progress, given that the European Union summit is on October 23, and that is where more developments are likely," IHS Global Insight economist Howard Archer told AFP.
"However, the G20 will undoubtedly crank up the pressure on the eurozone policymakers to really take a quantum leap."
In recent weeks and months, world financial markets have been slammed by concerns over spreading contagion from the eurozone crisis that has already resulted in multi-billion-euro bailouts for Ireland, Greece and Portugal.
London stocks have just suffered their worst quarter for nine years, with the FTSE plunging 13.7 percent in the three months to September, on the back of concerns that the eurozone crisis could spark another fierce global recession.
Elsewhere next week, investors will also digest a barrage of domestic economic data, with inflation numbers due on Tuesday, retail sales on Thursday and public finances data on Friday.
However, the likely focus will be on Wednesday's publication of minutes from the Bank of England's recent monetary policy gathering in October, when policymakers voted to pump more cash into Britain's flatlining economy.
The BoE's monetary policy committee decided that it will inject another £75 billion (86 billion euros, $115 billion) into the stalled economy in a bid to boost growth and prevent a return to recession.
The central bank already pumped £200 billion into the economy between March 2009 and January 2010, but the economy has struggled and over the past nine months it has virtually come to a halt.
"The minutes of the October meeting of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee could well reveal that there was a unanimous vote in favour of enacting a further £75 billion of quantitative easing," added Archer.
"Weak retail sales data for September are likely to highlight the task that policymakers face in trying to lift economic activity," he added.
Recent official data showed that Britain's jobless total has hit a 17 year-high, stoking fears of a new downturn.
On the company results front, satellite broadcaster BSkyB, drinks giant Diageo and miner BHP Billiton will post their latest numbers on Wednesday.
And on Thursday, resources titan Anglo American, arms manufacturer BAE Systems and brewer SABMiller will deliver their most recent earnings updates.
Late last month, BAE Systems had axed 3,000 jobs, mostly at its military aircraft division, and blamed reduced spending by cash-strapped governments that has slashed demand for fighter jets.
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