London investors were hoping that buoyant British economic growth would filter through to the capital's stock market this week, when a number of leading companies publish their annual results, analysts said on Friday. The FTSE 100 index of leading London shares closed at 4,832.8 points on Friday, down 29.5 points, or 0.61 percent, over the week.
Despite a third consecutive weekly drop, analysts were optimistic about the market's future showing.
"We know that 2004 was a pretty decent year, we know we had good economic growth and we know that should lead through to strong profitability growth," said Barclays Stockbrokers' analyst Henk Potts.
Britain's economy expanded at a faster than expected rate towards the end of 2004, with gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 0.7 percent in the final quarter, official data showed this week.
Robert Parkes, HSBC UK equities strategist, said however that annual results from Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell and Anglo-Australian resources group Rio Tinto next Thursday would unlikely "have a significant impact" on the London stock market's performance straight away.
British satellite broadcaster BSkyB was to publish its annual results on Wednesday, while British Airways was to post a third-quarter trading update on Friday.
The country's airline sector was boosted Friday when British airports operator BAA, owner of London's Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports, announced a 13.2 percent increase in pre-tax profits to 146 million pounds.
"Generally we are getting more positive stuff coming through from the airlines," Potts said.