Wednesday preview: FOMC, UK CPI
The focus on Wednesday will be on the US central bank, with three top Federal Reserve officials set to take to the podium ahead of the release of the latest set of Fed minutes later in the evening.
Among the policymakers who are due to speak are, the head of the St. Louis Fed, James Bullard, overnight, followed by his peer at the Federal Reserve bank of San Francisco, John Williams, at 1500 BST, and his peer at Atlanta Fed, Raphael Bostic, roughly a quarter of an hour afterwards.
The minutes will be released at 1900 BST, with economists anticipating that they will reveal FOMC members by and large in favour of retaining a patient stance given concerns over inflation and risks to growth outlook from overseas.
Against that background, at 0930 BST the Office for National Statistics will publish consumer price data for April, which are forecast to reveal an acceleration in inflation pressures from 1.8% in April to 2.0% for May.
Wednesday 23 May
Finals
Babcock International Group, Royal Mail, C&C Group, HICL Infrastructure, Intermediate Capital Group, Picton Property Income Ltd, Marks & Spencer Group
Interims
Paragon Banking Group, Britvic, Ixico
Trading announcements
Close Brothers Group
AGMs
Fundsmith Emerging Equities Trust, Sportech, Boku, Inc (DI) Reg S Cat 3/144A, MEDICA GROUP, Motif Bio, Bigblu Broadband, Allianz Technology Trust, Georgia Healthcare Group, French Connection Group, Deltex Medical Group, Gamma Communications, Georgia Capital, Modern Water, Judges Scientific, Bovis Homes Group, K3 Business Technology Group, Arena Events Group, Antofagasta, Property Franchise Group, Sound Energy, SafeCharge International Group Limited (DI), Deepmatter Group, Cluff Natural Resources
Final dividend payment date
Hunters Property, Charter Court Financial Services Group. Rotork, AIREA, Hikma Pharmaceuticals, Eurocell
Quarterly payment date
Merchants Trust
UK Economic Announcements
Producer Price Index (09:30)
Retail Sales (09:30)
Consumer Price Index (09:30)
Public Sector Net Borrowing (10:30)
International Economic Announcements
Gross Domestic Product (GER) (07:00)
MBA Mortgage Applications (US) (12:00)
Crude Oil Inventories (US) (15:30)