The FTSE-100 is likely to stay near 4,600 points this week after hefty gains in April as investors face a welter of results and shareholder meetings from nearly a quarter of the blue chip index, including BP.
Drug-makers also dominate as GlaxoSmithKline, AstraZeneca and Shire all unveil results, while in the financial sector Legal & General and Friends Provident also report.
By midmorning on Friday, the blue chip FTSE-100 index was up 23.1 points at 4,594.9 - making a gain of 4.7 percent so far in April. The move puts the index on course for its best monthly performance since October, but analysts said the strong run was unlikely to continue for much longer.
"April is often a good month and sometimes the better the April, the more valid 'sell in May and go away' is. We might get a little more upside but we've probably got to be blunt and say markets are fairly rated," said John Smith, head of equities at investment bank Brown Shipley.
Corporate news is thick on the ground next week, with the first raft of company results, updates and annual general meetings kicking off on Tuesday.
"The results season in the States has been very strong, and stronger than expected, and we're seeing some evidence that that's going to be the case in Europe as well," said Nigel Cobby, managing director of European equities at J.P. Morgan. "I think we'll see quite a lot of companies exceeding estimates, but even more importantly raising guidance."
First up among the heavy-hitters is oil titan BP with its quarterly results, followed by embattled Shell on Thursday. Analysts predict underlying profits for both firms will be bigger than the fourth quarter, thanks to stronger oil prices and downstream margins, but weaker than a year ago, when natural gas prices and fuel retail margins were higher.
Drug stocks will also attract attention, when Europe's top two drugmakers GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca as well as smaller player Shire unveil first-quarter numbers on Thursday. GSK is likely to report a decline in earnings as it fights generic competition to Paxil and currency fluctuations, while AstraZeneca faces a difficult comparison with a strong first-quarter last year.
In the tobacco sector, cigarette maker British American Tobacco reports first-quarter earnings on Tuesday and rival cigarette maker Imperial Tobacco releases its interim results on Wednesday.
Banks and insurers feature strongly throughout the week, with the biggest attention focusing on first-quarter results from Legal & General on Wednesday and Friends Provident on Thursday. Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland are just some of many holding annual meetings and may offer some clues on trading.
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