Investors in the London FTSE 100 index will next week have one eye on the events in conflict-hit Libya, and its effect on oil prices, and the other on the monthly interest-fixing Bank of England meeting. In the see-saw week just finished the London bourse lost 0.18 percent overall to end Friday at 5,990.39 points, after dropping 1.34 percent the previous week.
Trading sessions have been uncertain, with investors hesitant amid alarming images of unrest from oil-producing Libya and more upbeat news on the US economy and in company results.
"The British markets seem less optimistic looking on the future of the economic recovery due to the growing global uncertainties, with the oil price and inflation on the way up," said experts at UK Markets. Bank of England governor Mervyn King, whose every comment is closely followed and interpreted, was once again a focus for attention.
He will preside over next week's meeting of the Bank of England's rate-setting monetary policy committee (MPC), which will pronounce on Thursday on the possibility of monetary tightening, the principal weapon in the central bank's armoury in the fight against inflation which hit a two-year high of 3.7 percent in January.
This week King justified the maintenance of the status quo which sees the prime lending rate at a mere 0.5 percent, repeating the official line that the inflationary pressures were only temporary.
However the BoE's monetary policy committee is very divided, with four of its nine members more or less favourable to a rate hike in order to dampen down the inflationary pressures.
Other macro-economic indicators will also be published next week, casting more light on the state of the British economy. Trade figures will be out on Wednesday, industrial production Thursday and production prices on Friday.
The annual results season will also continue for major groups, including the Prudential insurer and asset management giant Schroders.
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