What you need to know before the open
A lower open for European markets this morning, with stocks expected to fall further from highs recently seen, following US and Asian counterparts.
We've got central bank minutes out later today from both the Bank of England and Fed.
Corporate news
SSE’s reported a 9.6 per cent rise in profit before tax, to £1.55bn, despite its 8.2 per cent price hike and “very challenging market conditions”. Chief executive Alistair Philips-Davies called the results a “mixed bag”.
Royal Mail has announced that it’s going to trial parcel delivery on Sundays, with parcels now the biggest part of its business. Its parcel boss Nick Landon told Radio 4’s Today programme that “the time has come” for such a service.
Burberry has reported a 27 per cent leap in reported pre-tax profit as it focuses expanding in Japan, under new chief executive Christopher Bailey. It’s also recruited EasyJet chief executive Carolynn McCall as a non-executive director.
And Britvic’s seen pre-tax profits up a fifth as drink sales pick up and its savings programme starts to kick in.
Data in focus
- 9.30am: UK Bank of England vote
- 9.30am: UK April retail sales
- 12.00pm: US MBA mortgage applications
- 3.00pm: EU May consumer confidence
- 4.00pm: US Fed's Yellen speech
- 7.00pm: US Fed policy meeting minutes