Growth data awaits London investors

British economic growth data is set to be a key driver of the London stock market amid a sprinkling of company earnings updates, according to analysts. The FTSE 100 index ended Friday at 4,241.01 points, down 2.41 percent from a week earlier.
"Topping the bill (for British investors next week) will be first-quarter GDP revisions on Tuesday," said Investec economist Philip Shaw. "While third estimates do not normally garner much interest, these will include chain-linking revisions that could lead to substantial changes dating back to 2004.
"We are forecasting a downward revision to the first-quarter (gross domestic product) figure to minus 2.2 percent from minus 1.9 percent," added Shaw. Britain's GDP - the total value of goods and services produced in the economy - shrank in the third and fourth quarters of 2008, and contracted a further 1.9 percent in the first three months of 2009, pushing the nation into recession.
Next week meanwhile may also see developments regarding a proposed shake-up of the mining sector. Swiss mining group Xstrata on Wednesday said it would still try to convince rival Anglo American of the advantages of a merger between the two, citing potential annual benefits of more than 1.0 billion dollars (710 million euros). London-based Anglo-American, a British-South African enterprise, on Monday rejected the merger proposal, dismissing it as "totally unacceptable."
Anglo-American has a market worth of about 35 billion dollars and Xstrata around 33 billion dollars.
A potential tie-up is the latest sign of consolidation pressure in the sector after the collapse of a deal by Rio Tinto with China. A tie-up could create a company worth more than Rio Tinto, which earlier this month cancelled a controversial tie-up with China's Chinalco in favour of a joint venture with the world's biggest miner BHP Billiton.
One of the most eye-catching stories to come out of Britain this week was British Airways announcement that 800 of its staff had agreed to briefly work unpaid and thousands more to pay cuts, helping the group save up to 10 million pounds (11.7 million euros, 16.3 million dollars).
After diving into a financial loss, the airline last month asked staff to work for free, while promising that chief executive Willie Walsh and BA's finance director Keith Williams would forgo their July salaries.