European investors go on mall-watch this week when Next, Woolworths and Inditex provide a litmus test of consumer confidence, crucial for keeping economic recovery on track.
Retailers aside, Telecom Italia Mobile the mobile arm of Italy's main telecoms operator reports on Monday, followed by Telecom Italia itself on Tuesday. Telekom Austria and Swisscom report on Wednesday.
Annual earnings from German airline Lufthansa will be scrutinised on Thursday, after the company's shares dived on news of last week's Madrid bombings and the suspected involvement of al Qaeda.
Elsewhere, the world's second largest re-insurer Swiss Re hands in its scorecard on Thursday.
Investors are hoping for a steadier tone in the market after the past week's roller-coaster ride in the wake of the Madrid bombings, which accelerated a correction from March's 20-month highs in European shares.
On Friday morning, the pan-European FTSE Eurotop 300 index was trading near breakeven around 978 points, five percent off its highs for the year.
With little in the way of major US economic figures for investors to chew on this week, the focus will be on Germany's Ifo business confidence index, the most influential indicator for Europe's biggest economy.
However, the Ifo figure is likely to bring more disappointment, said John Hatherly, head of global analysis at M&G Asset Management.
Earlier this week, the German ZEW economic expectations indicator - seen as a precursor to the Ifo - fell for a third month in a row to its lowest level since August, partly dented by security fears rekindled by the Spanish bombs. "What life there is in the German economy is largely due to exports, and there has been a failure of consumers to respond," Hatherly said.
Lack of consumer confidence has hit Europe's biggest department store operator KarstadtQuelle, which posted a dive in 2003 earnings this week and will present more detailed figures on Tuesday. Earnings before tax and amortisation (EBTA) fell 23.5 percent last year to 225 million euros, while net profit after minorities slid 33.3 percent to 108 million euros.
British clothing retailer Next, which unlike other high street names has seen strong sales, delivers its full year results on Thursday. Next shares recently reached all time highs and have been one of the top performers on the FTSE 100 index of leading shares.
Meanwhile, Italian carmaker Fiat delivers its 2003 year results on Friday, after posting a record loss in 2002.
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