British investors have plenty to focus this week as several banks give trading updates and as electronics retailer Dixons releases final results.
Also in the retail sector, Marks & Spencer will be closely watched for any new developments in the ongoing bid saga between the company and tycoon Philip Green. M&S rejected Green's latest offer of "not less than" 370 pence a share.
Green is taking time to think about his next move while monitoring shareholders' responses. M&S is due to deliver its turnaround plan on July 12.
But despite plenty of action on the corporate front, the wider market looks unlikely to make much progress as it fights against high stock valuations, the threat of a US interest rate rise at the end of June and uncertainty caused by ongoing violence in Saudi Arabia and Iraq.
The FTSE 100 edged above the 4,600-mark in April but recent weeks have left the blue chip index struggling to break decisively above 4,500 points. The FTSE was slightly higher by midmorning, heading for a marginal weekly gain.
Analysts at Commerzbank added that the UK stock market looked fully valued compared to its European counterparts and a Reuters poll earlier this week showed strategists expect rising domestic interest rates to limit the FTSE's rise in 2004.
A spate of trading updates from the FTSE's biggest sector will be one of the main features this week, as Lloyds TSB and mortgage lender HBOS update the market.
Shareholders will also be keen to see if a trading statement from Asia-focused bank Standard Chartered on Wednesday will give any clues on the health of the Asian economy.
"Can the Chinese growth story continue or is it going to have a hard landing? They are a company that is very close to that. They do have this great exposure to the Asian bubble and we want to know if the bubble is going to burst," said Hilary Cook, director of investment strategy at Barclays Private Clients.
In the construction sector, building materials firm Hanson releases a first-half trading update on Thursday and house-builder Crest Nicholson reports interim results.
On the economic front, the Bank of England publishes the minutes from its latest interest rate meeting on Wednesday. In the United States, the University of Michigan's June survey of consumer sentiment will be closely watched on Friday.
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