The new growth forecast from the Bank of England will be the focus for London traders next week, with the outlook for the British economy to be lowered as the crisis in the eurozone aggravates. In the outgoing week the FTSE-100 index of leading shares managed at 0.33 percent gain to 5,545.38 points despite wide swings triggered by the political crises in Greece and Italy.
Analysts say investors are likely to stave off risk until they see the eurozone crisis is firmly on the way to being resolved. The damage of the eurozone debt crisis to Britain's economy will become clear when the Bank of England releases revisions to its growth forecasts.
In its latest forecasts in August, the Bank of England lowered its 2011 growth forecast to 1.4 percent from 1.8 percent. That forecast now looks too optimistic, with most analysts expecting the British economy to post less than 1.0 percent growth.
In its latest forecasts published on Wednesday, the European Commission said it now expects Britain to record 0.7 percent growth. The government still holds to a 1.7 percent growth forecast. In other economic data, October consumer price inflation comes out on Tuesday, with the 12-month rate having hit a three-year high of 5.2 in September. Unemployment data is released on Wednesday, with the country having recorded a 17-year high at the end of August.
In company news, low cost airline EasyJet is to publish annual results on Tuesday. ICAP releases half-year results on Wednesday, followed by SABMiller brewer on and Centrica energy company on Thursday.