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(Sharecast News) - There are no FTSE 350 corporate releases scheduled on Friday, but American Express will publish second-quarter earnings across the pond.
On the macro front, UK retail sales figures for June will be among the highlights, along with preliminary UK and eurozone PMIs for July, and US new home sales data for June.
TD Securities said it expects UK retail sales to be flat in June - market consensus is for a 0.3% dip - following a strong gain in May.
"While BRC data suggested that heatwaves weighed on footfall in physical stores, we expect resilience in online spending to offset much of that weakness, it said.
"May's boost from electronics purchases linked to recent product launches is also unlikely to be repeated. Nonetheless, with household fundamentals remaining broadly stable and little sign of a deterioration in consumer demand, we expect these opposing forces to leave overall retail sales unchanged on the month."
As far as the UK PMIs are concerned, TD Securities expects services activity to recover modestly in July with the PMI measure at 49.5, versus a prior reading of 48.8 and consensus expectations of 49.4, as input cost pressures continue to ease, and business expectations improve from June's lows.
"Manufacturing, however, is likely to remain broadly unchanged, with the earlier boost from stockpiling and front-loaded demand fading," it said. "We see this PMI release at 52.5 (market: 52.0; prior: 52.5). While lower energy costs at the start of the month should offer some support, elevated domestic political uncertainty and subdued customer confidence are likely to cap the pace of any broader recovery."
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